Practice In Patience
by sleepingthroughthestatic4
Summary: A sanctuary is a sanctuary after all, but when Rick and his group stumble upon this camp, they begin to wonder if there's more that meets the eye to this seemingly flawless safe haven, a place that hides a bloody secret.  DarylxOC
1. A Practice In Patience

The morning air is bitter as it presses against my skin, sending a thorough chill down my spine. I swing my feet and wiggle my toes to keep the blood flowing, but feel my heartbeat quicken when I find they've gone numb. With a grunt, I shift myself over to the trunk of the tree, and lift my useless legs out of the air, and rest them on the branch I sit atop.

It wasn't as though the air was cold, it was summer, after all, it was because I'd been sitting in the tree for hours, unmoving, just waiting for something to come along. I continue to try to wriggle my toes enclosed by my leather boots, and regain feeling in my lower calves. I make a mental note to never sit still for more than ten minutes next time.

_Next time_.

The words flow through my brain as if there really is such a thing as 'next time'. I push the suicidal thoughts from my head and continue to massage my weak legs, all the while keeping alert for any signs of life in the deadbeat forest I rest in. It's when I finally start to feel my finger tips pressing hard into my skin that the optimism floods slowly back into my brain. Maybe I won't need an amputation after all.

I freeze when I hear a steady crunching sound from below. I quickly grab an arrow from its holder, and position it against my bow. I squeeze one eye shut, and concentrate on where the noise comes from. The noise gradually became louder, and I almost began to discharge my weapon when I realize these were not the thud of prey's footsteps, but rather a human's. Well, quite possibly. I keep my weapon in position, just in case.

I'm just about to strike again when a familiar figure comes into view. His head bent low, his eyes fixing on a tree some paces ahead. I follow his gaze but see nothing. Then again, he'd always been the better hunter. I watch as he pulls back his arrow, a faint vein popping from the side of his neck. Beads of sweat drip down his face, and then the arrow flies.

It sticks to a tree I'd almost been positive I'd checked over, and I find he's snagged himself a squirrel. I feel a blush form on my face. How could I have missed that?

I jump down from my perch and watch as he whips around, his weapon points directly between my eyes. I roll my eyes and watch as he sighs in relief. "How many times do I have to tell you," he starts with an exasperated sigh.

"Don't sneak up on people," I finish for him, my voice a mocking tone.

"If you know it so well, why must you continue doing it?" he asks, before turning around and climbing the bottom branch of the tree to collect his winnings.

"Because if I don't keep you on your toes, you wouldn't of made it this far. Let's face it, Reese. Without me, you'd be dead."

"Without you, I wouldn't have heart problems," he mutters, stuffing the carcass into a bag he kept wrapped around his shoulders.

"And just where's the fun without heart problems?" I smirk, and place the unused arrow I'd kept steady in my hand back inside the holder.

"Catch anything?" he asks, as we begin to make our way back to camp.

"A squirrel and rabbit." I beam proudly at my earnings.

"You were out all night, and you only caught a squirrel and rabbit?" his voice irritates me, and I furrow my eyebrows defensively.

"Don't know if you realize this, but the forest isn't as plentiful as it was before," I spit, my hand gripping the bow in my hand intensely.

He gives me a solemn expression in return and slows his pace down until he's barely stopped. "They'll make you give that up, you know." His voice is barely a whisper and by now, we've come to a complete halt. I stare off into the distance, listening as an invisible bird chirps from above.

"Maybe some of the other hunters got lucky. They'll let me and Caroline take at least the squirrel." I say the words, but there isn't much meaning behind them.

Suddenly, a fire sparks in the boy's brown eyes, and he grabs my prey-bag and arrow-holder from my grasp. Before I can protest, and yanks the squirrel out of the bag and shoves it into my arrow bag. "Tell them it was a slow day," he orders. "You didn't catch any squirrel."

I slowly nod my head. I looked at Reese in grief and notice how the skin on his face was exactly that: skin. No meat hid behind his cheeks, and I had to blink to remind myself that Reese was alive, and not just a skeleton.

"What about you? They'll take everything you've got, too," the tone in my voice picks up defensively, and I watch as he forces a smile upon his weathered face.

"They need me, Aubrey. They'll take care of me."

His voice is full of reassurance, but I remain skeptic yet. If they take such great care of him, they why does he resemble a walking skeleton, and why can I hear his stomach growl through the crunch of the leaves under his boots? I shake off the feeling of anger. Becoming overemotional would get us nowhere. It's best to keep feelings inside.

Our walk home is full of silence, but strangely, I don't mind. Reese and I didn't always need to talk in order to know what each other are saying. We both dread going back to camp, but where else can we possibly go? I sigh. This world is not made for one or two humans to travel upon, alone. This is a dangerous world now, and I can't help but think back to what the leaders had taught us as Earth began spiraling down: there is always strength in numbers.

"You will _never_ make it on your own," the lieutenant had stated, walking across the stage, his watchful gaze stretched upon his audience. "You might think going home to your family will be easiest. But I'll tell you one thing; you are dead wrong."

I'd stared up at him, Caroline at my side, her hand placed firmly in mine. She squeezed every so often, and I'd squeeze back, just to show her that in some ways, I was still there.

"The only way that the human race can survive this, is by sticking together. Over half the population has been wiped clean already!" he raised his voice, and I heard some onlookers gasp at his statistic. I couldn't help but notice the crazy glimmer in the man's eyes when he stared in my direction. "We need to keep what's left of our humanity, and start a new life. We have to prove that one little infection will not take the best of us."

The infection. The virus. The walkers. The dead. The camp. The words make me shudder. But there was nothing left to do but hope and pray this would all pass over sooner or later, and we'd go on with our lives as normal. I knew this just as well as I know now, though; normal isn't an option anymore.

Before we come into sight of the camp, Reese stops me again, this time, turning me around and placing something rather heavy in my kill bag.

"Thank you?" I ask questionably.

"One of my rabbits. If you walk in there with just one, they won't be happy about that, even if it just was a slow day." I see the truth in his words and I nod in acceptance.

We turn back towards the large gates and come into view. A guard at the top hold us in his crosshairs, but slowly lets the gun down, signaling to the inside to let us pass. Reese holds up his hand in a 'thanks' kind of manner, and we walk through the main entrance, and meet the other two soldiers that will inspect us for further screening.

"Find anything good?" one of the soldiers asks, as he places a thermometer in Reese's ear.

"Got a few rabbits, squirrels." He shrugs. "The usual."

"And you?" he walks towards me, cleaning the thermometer with a damp cloth before sticking into my ear.

"A couple rabbits," I tell him. His eyes narrow disapprovingly, but he says no more, and grants us access to the main part of camp.

The camp is heavily guarded, as it used to be a military base. Most people would say we've found the safe haven, but if they really knew, they wouldn't think that for a second. At the time when the outbreak became global, Lieutenant Marks seemed like the best bet for survival. He talked a good speech, and ensured that if we went with him, we'd face no troubles. And we hadn't, not with the walkers at least.

This camp is more of a work camp, than a safe camp. There was no time for rest here, and if you were caught slacking off, it was punishable by death. Marks had turned out to be more like a monster than a God, and his true colors shone brightly when he shot a young boy of probably about fifteen, in the center of camp, as to make an example of what would happen if you were caught rebelling.

The rules were simple. Do what you can for the group, or die. Most women took care of preparing meals, laundry, and any sort of cleaning or teaching the young kids, providing pleasure for the men. The men, on the other hand, would hunt and guard. A balance of work that just did not seem fair in my eyes. The soldiers were treated as pure gold, and were never questioned on their actions. I secretly spited them, and kept myself close to Caroline and Reese.

I am a different case. I don't enjoy cleaning, laundry, or cooking, and although I still participate in these activities on occasion, I find myself in the woods most of the time, watching for other survivors, taking down easy prey, and mostly, thinking up in my lookout tree.

"Let's go to the hut first," Reese whispers to me, barely moving his lips. "Drop off the squirrel and one of my rabbits, and then we'll take the rest to the collection."

I follow his movements until we reach our designated hut. Caroline is not in her bed, so I figure she's out with Claire, learning something utterly useless about history, and I quickly drop the squirrel on the ground beside Reese's rabbit, and we cover it quickly with a small blanket.

We walk out of the hut quickly, and towards the collection in silence. Some other hunters had just gotten back from their trip, and hand over some squirrels, birds, and even a raccoon. Reese and I walk up to the guards, and empty our sacks.

"That's it?" one of the guards looks distastefully in my direction.

"It was a slow morning," I tell him through gritted teeth.

He scoffs. "I think you should just stick to kitchen duty."

I tense, and Reese places a protective hand on my arm, urging me to calm down. I comply, and force a smile. "I'll find more next time."

"Don't come back until you've got at _least_ half a sac full. This is just pathetic."

He throws my kill into the pile like it's garbage, and turns to the hunter standing behind us. I feel the blood in my veins boiling, and storm away, muttering undistinguishable curses with every step.

"Hey," I hear Reese call, grabbing my hand.

"This is complete bullshit!" I growl.

"I know—"

"I catch so many things for those ungrateful bastards. One day, _one _day, I don't come back with a substantial amount, and I have to listen to that shit?" my voice rises with every word, and Reese looks around nervously. Onlookers raise their eyebrows in worry, and a few guards turn their ears in my direction. I force myself to take a deep breath. The last person who made a scene in the camp was shot on the spot.

"Don't worry about them," Reese whispers, pulling my arm towards our hut.

"How can I not? They'll prevent me from hunting anymore, and then what will Caroline eat?" I ask, my voice cracking in distress.

"They won't prevent you from hunting. And if so, I'll make sure you and Caroline get enough to eat," his words are full of sincere and promise, and I finally nod in defeat. Reese would never let Caroline or I go hungry. I could always count of him.

"Thank you," I whisper, as he pulled me into a hug and presses his lips atop my forehead. We're not in the center of attention anymore, but people still watch us warily.

Reese has always been like a brother to me, even at an early age. We grew up next door to each other, and he was my first friend, from what I can remember. Being a grade older than me, he ensured protection. It also helped that he was one of the popular kids, and kept my reputation secure by just walking down the hallways with me.

The rest of the afternoon passes by as normal. Reese takes our stolen kill and pretends as though he's cooking for the soldiers, who are guaranteed first meal. Then, he stealthily takes pieces of the meat and shoves them into his deep pockets, keeping a watchful eye on me, while I keep a watchful eye on the guards. No one seems to notice.

And that's when we hear it. The sun's just beginning to set, and the sky is a deep orange color, beautiful almost. But the life of the sunset is drawn out by a horrible scream, coming from inside the one of the huts. It's a woman, and she's in danger, but of what, we aren't certain. The camp is almost impossible for a walker to get through, so for a moment, we all stare in the general direction of where the screech came from.

Sure enough, and soldier pulls a struggling woman out from her hut, his hand grasping her hair firmly, a scowl painted on his harsh features. He brings her to the center of camp and throws her down, as two other soldiers walk towards him.

I recognize the woman as Betty, a mother of two, who usually keeps to herself. Her eyes cloud with regret and torture, and I blink away as she catches my eye. This can't be good. I look in the direction of which she came, and see her two little girls watching helplessly from the sidelines. Reese is clenching his jaw, doing everything he can not to lash out.

The soldiers keep their guns out, all pointing at Betty. Soon, Marks strides out of his den, structure calm, but eyes merciless, none the less. He walks towards her and clears his throat. "And what's the meaning of this commotion?"

"I caught her stealing," the guard growls. I see Reese shift out of the corner of my eye.

"Stealing what?" he asks, as if it makes a difference.

"Bread. From the soldiers. I followed her to her hut. She had at least three rolls in her jacket."

"Hmm." Marks furrows his eyebrows as if there was some sort of decision to be made. But I know, just as well as anyone else, there is only one solution to this act.

"Please," she chokes out. "My children are starving," she glances in their direction, but Marks doesn't faze.

"So, you think that makes stealing right?" Marks narrows his eyebrows.

"No," her eyes are pleading. "Never, I-I wasn't thinking."

Marks straightens his back and turns to the other survivors. "I try to run a good thing here," he starts. "I provide shelter, food, security. Let's not forget where you'd all be if you didn't have me. Dead," his voice booms.

I take this time to look around the area. Fear. It's all I see in the eyes of the campers. Would we all get punished for Betty's actions? Would he truly kill her in front of her children? I feel movement beside me, and realize Caroline has made her way over to me, silently, her hand squeezing itself into mine. I hold my composure. For her sake.

"This is no way to treat your savior," he glares back down at the woman. "Stealing from the soldiers, the ones who keep you safe. The ones that even _allow_ you to keep them alive!" he points behind him to the children, who let out a tiny whimper.

"I promise I've learned my lesson, please," she continues to plead, tears streaming like rivers down her cheeks. I want to do something, but speaking out now would mean certain death, and I have to think of the little girl beside me. I'm all she has left, since Mom and Dad passed.

"I'm sorry," Marks says, hanging his head as if he actually does feel something for the poor woman. "But this just cannot do. You've gone too far."

And with that. He takes his gun out of his holder. He points it at her terrified face. And in one instant, pulls the trigger.

There are several gasps from the crowd, and I close my eyes, feeling Caroline dig her face into my leg. Betty's children let out a terrible wail. I want to mute them, turn off the sound. It's all too much. I feel Reese's eyes burning into me, and when I return the stare, I realize I've never seen those warm eyes so cold before. They were menacing. Terrifying.

"Anyone else have anything they'd like to share?" Marks' gruff voice brings us back to reality.

Nobody speaks but that didn't mean you couldn't feel the words pouring out of each and every one of our brains. Marks lets out a grunt and stalks back up to his lair, two guards following like lost puppies. I realize that since Betty had been shot, I hadn't taken a breath. I open my mouth and start to breathe, but it chokes as it comes out, and I bit my lip to keep from crying.

There's movement to my left, and I see Alice, a young woman about my age, gather Betty's children in her arms, and lead them into her hut. Then, Robert, a middle-aged man with worry wrinkles consistently planted on his face, walks over to the body, and places his jacket over her dismantled face.

I turn my head around camp and find that all of the guards have gone back about their business. As if nothing happened. As if a poor, innocent, woman wasn't just brutally murdered in front of our eyes. As if her children weren't in the hut to the left, every single bit of childhood they had left in them gone. It reminds me of Caroline, her face is still buried in my leg, warm tears soaking through my pant leg.

"Come on, Sweetie," I say, my voice completely emotionless.

I lead her towards our hut, and once inside, stare at the door, watching as it opens and closes again. Reese paces around the small area of the shelter. He's grumbling, but I have no energy to interpret what he's saying. I just sit on the edge of our cot, Caroline's small fragile body lying in my lap, as she continues to whimper in my arms.

"What the _fuck_!" his voice gradually gets louder, and when he looks at me, I see there are tears streaming down his face. "He can't do that!"

"But he did," I whisper. My eyes staring off in no particular direction.

"And he'll do it again," Reese growls. He steps in front of me and kneels down so our faces are almost touching. "We have to get out of here."

The words astonish me, and I snap back to realism. Leave? That's a death sentence all its own. Millions, if not billions, of walkers wait just outside the borders of our sanctuary. We'd be dead within seconds. "We can't do that," I tell him.

"And why the Hell not?" his voice is angry.

"Because we'll die!" I shout at him, squeezing Caroline's hand just a bit harder.

"Please don't tell me you've bought into his lies," Reese hisses. "He's just saying that to scare us!"

"So there isn't an army of dead people just waiting to sink their teeth into us the moment we step out of our borders?"

"We can keep a low profile, travel by day, camp by night. If there are just the three of us, it'll be easier to sneak around them," the anger vanishes, and his eyebrows are pulled together by deep thought.

"Reese, you're talking absurd. I will _not_ let Caroline die."

"She won't die."

"I can't risk that."

There is a long silence in the hut. Reese stares at me for a few moments, an unreadable emotion filling his eyes, before turning on heel, and leaving, slamming the door behind him.

I press my lips together, but can't seem to stop the tears that push themselves to the surface on my eyes, and eventually spill out down my cheeks. Reese didn't understand. He could never understand. I had made a promise to Mom that I would watch over Caroline at whatever it takes. The promise was the only thing I can hold on to.

I feel Caroline's chest move slower and slower, and know that she's cried herself into a deep sleep. I feel free to cry even more, because now she isn't awake to hear it. To see it. To see the weakness in my face. The cries of defeat. I slowly lift her off my lap, and lie down next to her on the hard bed. I stroke the hair out of her eyes, and slowly fall into a restless sleep, all the while, trying to push the thought that Reese is right out of my head.

I feel my chest burn when I finally reach my conclusion. We do need to get out of here. And I would make sure that Caroline's deep breathing would occur for the rest of my life.

Even if it costs mine in the process.

XX

Hey! So this is my first chapter. I kind of just want to see how it goes, and everything, so if you want to give me some good feedback, that'd be awesome! Critiques and all, I just want to improve my writing. :)

So anyway, yes, the cast of The Walking Dead will make their appearance shortly, I just wanted to give an insight to Aubrey's life. I figure that some evil man would use the apocalypse as a reason to dictate a bunch of scared, hopeless people, so Marks is my version of that. So I hope I got off to a good start, and again, feel free to give me tips or anything that'll help me advance in my writing.

Oh yeah, and this is definitely DarylxOC… as in DarylxAubrey.

Thanks for taking the time to read!


	2. Now We Are Free

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead in any way.

**A/N: Okay so here is chapter two! I hope you guys enjoy it… I worked a lot on it and made it extra long so that Daryl and the group can be included. It'd be great to get opinions, and thank you so much for the story alerts and reviews! Keep 'em coming! **

**Oh, and today is my birthday, so you should definitely leave a review. Just saying. :D**

_Now We Are Free._

It was when another camper was accused of stealing, and sentenced to death, that I decided we needed to leave. I meet Reese out by our usual lookout, and together we come up with the perfect plan. Well as perfect as we can possibly make it.

"We can sneak out under the perimeter," I suggest.

Reese shakes his head. "They'll catch us."

We sit like that for a while. Me, my feet dangling as I rest on a branch, and Reese, pacing around the clearing, searching for any sensible solution. Suddenly, he stops and smiles, looking up at me. "I got it!"  
>"Care to share?"<p>

"They don't check on us while we hunt. They think they've got us scared. We can escape while we're "hunting"," he explains.

"That would be perfect. But. What about Caroline?"

He frowns again, and bites his lip. Children are not allowed outside under any circumstance. He lets out a frustrated grunt and slams his fist against a tree. I shake my head. "We could lie."

"And tell them what?" he asks.

"We're teaching Caroline to hunt."

"And you honestly think they'll buy that?"

"It's worth a shot."

He considers for a moment. "Okay. Here's what'll happen. I'll leave tomorrow in the morning, at my normal time. You leave at your normal time, with Caroline. You'll have to stuff anything you absolutely need in the prey bag, or they'll just get suspicious. You'll lie to them, and we'll meet right here, at your tree. Then we run as fast as we can to the highway and take it from there. Okay?"  
>"Okay." I slide off the tree, and we face each other.<p>

"Go, feed Caroline and yourself, and get to sleep early. You'll need as much energy as possible."

"Okay," I repeat. I'm not sure if it's the nerves or the excitement that keeps me from forming words. Before I know what he's doing, Reese grabs my face and pulls me to him, placing a soft kiss on my forehead.

"No matter what happens, you do what I say. I'm telling you right now, my main goal is to keep you and Caroline alive, and that won't change for anything. I love you."

I nod and feel tears well up in my eyes. I blink them away and find the courage to muster up the words I so desperately need to speak. "I love you too."

"I'll see you then." And with that, he turns to leave. I watch him until he disappears, and even though I know there are more important things to worry about, I can't help but wonder if his admittance of love is real or not. I shake my head. He loves me. Like a sister. Just like I love him as a brother. I try to put the thoughts aside, but I find myself thinking about it until I reach camp, and as I lay my head down next to Caroline's and try to sleep.

_Tomorrow, _I think. _And then we'll be free._ And with that, I fall into a deep sleep, my body slowly preparing for our fate tomorrow.

xxx

"Come on Caroline," I clear my throat when I really how cracked it is. I shake her shoulder slightly and watch as she yawns and looks up at me in confusion. "We're leaving."

At these words she wakes up immediately, crawling her way out from under the stiff sheet. "Where are we going?" she asks, though she grabs her stuff and throws it into the prey-bag I give her.

"I don't know," I admit. No use lying when the twelve-year old could see right through me.

"Reese?" she asks.

"He's coming."

I urge her to hurry and help her throw some last minute items into her bag. Then, we head out into the darkness. I have my arrow around my shoulder, just as Reese and I planned. We start making our way across the camp when I hear a small voice call my name. I turn around and see Diana, a woman I'd come particularly fond of since we've gotten here. Her expression is showing all signs of distress.

"Where are you going?" she asks, catching up to us.

"We're leaving," I tell her so quietly I'm not sure that she heard. But she has, and she nods her head, placing a hand on my cheek.

"I wish I were as brave as you," she says. "I wish you the best."

I nod, and hear a hitch in Caroline's breath. She's crying. It isn't long before I feel the tears swell in my eyes too. I nod again and hug her. Before she lets me go, she whispers something else in my ear. "Don't forget about us."

I break away from our embrace and stare at her, my back straightened and my chin high. I'm a survivor. I'm a soldier. I blink the tears away. "I'll come back for you," I promise. She smiles sweetly, and before we can say anything else, she turns her back and disappears into the night. I think about my promise. I will come back for them. And I'll save them all.

I squeeze Caroline's hand and together we walk towards the entrance, as cool and collected as possible. I start to walk by the guards nonchalantly, but I feel a sharp grasp on my wrist. I try to ignore the pain I feel from his grip. I know this is where my performance means everything. Reese is already out. His safety is inevitable. I swallow and face the guard who's grabbed me so forcefully.

"Going somewhere?" he asks.

"Hunting. As I do every morning."

"No children outside the camp," he says.

"They've given me permission to teach Caroline to hunt. Would you like to ask Lieutenant Marks?" my voice is nothing but powerful, and after sizing me up for a moment, the guard releases his grasp. He grunts and stands aside, allowing us to pass.

We strode through the exit, and walk quietly out into the wilderness. I can feel sweat forming at my forehead. I bite my lip uncertainly. That seemed too easy. Surely, the guards would find this suspicious and send the best after us, but I hear no footsteps trailing behind. I search the trees, looking for any sign of Reese. We make our way to my lookout tree where Reese had told us he'd meet us and stop.

Something's not right. Maybe it's the still air, maybe it's the lack of a young man in the area, but I feel a chill run down my spine. Then, I hear it. The footsteps. Three sets. I feel Caroline's grasp tighten. Then, the figures come into view.

Reese is being dragged by two soldiers. His face is bloodied. I shut my eyes for a second and make a silent prayer that this is a nightmare. But when I reopen them, he's still there, being pushed to the ground. A gun is pointed at us. The guards sneer at me.

"It's a shame, really," one of the guards starts. "It was a good plan."

"We were just going hunting," I stammer, not quite sure what else I can do.

"Next time, try to make sure you speak quieter when you're making plans to deceive us. Not everyone is on your side."

Someone ratted us out. I can't help the anger rising in my chest. Who was it? Why couldn't they have minded their own business? The plan was perfect. I feel the weight of my bow upon my shoulder. I could easily take the one holding Reese out, but the other has the upper hand. There's no way I could do it without putting my life, Reese's life, or Caroline's in jeopardy.

"So. How are we going to do this?" the soldier with his weapon drawn smiles and steps closer to us. "Come quietly, or we'll be forced to kill you right here."

I lock eyes with Reese and he shakes his head. "Go", he mouths. I see his hands reach down and pull a knife from a compartment he keeps near his ankle. He was going to sacrifice himself for Caroline and I. I watch him closely, and barely have enough time to react when he shoves the knife through the guard's calf, and slice it through the meat. The guard screams in pain, and Reese pulls it out, shoving it through the other man's chest. Before he's able to complete his kill, the soldier knocks him upside the head with his gun. Reese and guard both fall to the ground, and I already have my bow strung and pointed at both the guards'.

"Go Aubrey!" Reese yells, exhaustion overpowering his normally booming voice.

"I'm not leaving without you," I murmur, finding the guards no longer a threat. I bend down beside him and start to help him up.

"Aubrey, I won't make it. You have to go. If you don't they'll find you. Please go. I'll be okay," he tells me, holding my face between his bloody hands. I feel tears stream down my face once again, and nod to him, not finding the words to express how I feel.

I tear myself away from him, and grab Caroline's hand, who's shaking and crouching on the ground. I pull her to her feet, and start sprinting. We run and run, away from the scene, making quick progress. I push Reese from my mind, as I find when I think of him, it just makes my feet slow. I want to go back. I want to save him, but I'm not strong enough to carry him, and he's right. The soldier's scream would draw all forces to the source, and Reese's blood would leave tracks we can't control.

"Don't stop," I say, when I feel Caroline start slowing.

"I'm so tired," she breathes.

"Just hang on a bit longer. We're almost to the road."

I don't know why that's a comfort, as I have no idea where to go once we get onto the road, but she picks up her pace and is now back to her full potential. I groan and push myself further, watching my footsteps. It's still so dark that I can't fully see in front of me. It might not be the smartest idea; running through the woods during a walker apocalypse, but right now, nothing made sense to me.

After it feels as if we've been running forever, the sun starts to come up, and I can see a break in the trees. The road. I bite my lip and press on. As soon as we reach the concrete, we slow down, and come to a stop, both of us leaning on our knees, panting heavily. We both look at each other, and I embrace her, smiling. We did it. We made it. We're free.

I feel the threat of tears again. Reese should be here. It was his idea, his want, _need_ to leave that place. And now he's probably being punished, and I'm here, where he's been working so hard to get to. My lips tremble, and I feel Caroline stroking my hair.

"He'll find his way out," she whispers, though I can feel her voice quake.

"I know he will."

We loosen our hold, and I take this moment to look around. We're in the middle of a highway. I know we're out of the soldiers' cruel grasp, but by no means are we safe. In fact, being on the high way is probably just about as dangerous as it gets. The dead are probably crawling all over this seemingly empty road. Caroline seems to realize this too, and moves closer to me.

"We have to keep going, look for any signs of life," I tell her.

"What if there's no one left?" she asks.

"We'll find someone."

I don't know that for certain, but I don't want her to doubt for one second that the world is completely over. There has to be _someone_. We managed to get out in time, we can't be the only ones. I open my prey bag and find three pieces of squirrel meat. One for Caroline. One for me. One for Reese. I shake my head and split the last one in half, and divide the pieces among the two of us. Caroline wolfs the food down, and I follow her lead, despite the ache in my stomach. We must keep our strength up, or there is no purpose for Reese's sacrifice.

After our stomach's are full, we begin walking. The sun's climbing its way to the top of the sky, and I feel worry creep upon me. We only have a limited amount of water, Reese was in charge of most of it. I ignore this. We'll cross that bridge when it comes to it.

We walk for a long time when I know Caroline needs a break. Between sprinting out of the woods, and walking on a highway in this heat, I'm surprised she hasn't passed out. She holds her head high, though, and tells me she can keep going, but I know we can try to salvage supplies if we find some unlocked cars. I start rummaging through the first one when I hear it.

The sound of engines. Car engines. There were cars on the road, and they were working! I wriggle myself out of the car, and look around eagerly. Caroline seems to have heard them too, and she I see her point. "There!"

I follow her gaze and see them. Cars driving down the highway. They're opposite of us, so I muster up all the energy and strength within me, and sprint towards them. I wave my hands and scream. I don't even know if I'm forming words, but noises are coming out as I head towards them. I feel tears stream down my face when they begin to slow down. They're stopping. We're safe.

I slow down my pace as they come closer to me and fully stop the cars. I look back to see Caroline struggling to catch up, all of our prey bags in her hands. I wave in their direction, and then turn around to go help her. We run back towards them, and see them getting out of the cars.

I slow down and see a man in a sheriff's uniform step forward. He's accompanied by a man with dark, longer hair, who's eyeing us cautiously. I clear my throat, but find I have no words to say until the men reach us. The rest of their group stay behind.

"Hi," I manage to croak out.

"Hello ma'am," the sheriff nods at us. "You look like you need some help."

"Yes," I smile and glance down at Caroline who's still breathing heavily.

"Either of you infected?" the right-hand man asks, his hand clutching the base of his gun.

"No," I tell him, no hesitation.

"If you're planning on coming along with us, you won't mind if some of our female members check you over though," the sheriff's voice is full of authority, but there's softness to it, and suddenly, I feel safe. For the first time since the outbreak occurred.

"We don't mind. One bit."

"Good." He turns to his friend. "Shane, tell the others we'll make camp here for today, so we can get them situated." The right-hand man, Shane, eyes us for a few more moments, but then nods and turns back to the other survivors.

"I'm Rick Grimes." My attention is adverted back to the sheriff, and I see he's holding his hand out to me. I take it.

"Aubrey Wells. This is my sister, Caroline."

He lets go of my hand, and bends down to face Caroline, shaking hers too. He offers a smile, and she repeats the gesture. "You'll probably like to meet my son, Carl, and Carol's daughter, Sophia. They'll probably be happy to have another kid around." Caroline smiles and looks around him to the kids he's talking about. Everyone is staring just as intently back at us.

"Are you injured?" he asks. I realize he's looking at my face, his eyebrows scrunched together. I give him a quizzical look back, but then it hits me. Reese. He had grabbed my face before we left, and his hands were full of blood.

"It's not my blood." I realize how he might misinterpret this, and immediately shake my head. "My friend. He was injured."

"I see," he looks at the ground for a moment, but then looks back up. "Guess we'll have you checked over now."

We make our way towards the group, and I try to ignore their scorching stares. We walk right up to Carl, the boy he pointed out earlier, and a woman. She introduces herself as Lori, Rick's wife. She's the one who will be checking Caroline and I over.

We walk behind one of the cars, and she asks me to strip off my clothes until I'm just in my underwear and bra. I'm thankful that the men are busy working to build a fire, and find fuel for the cars.

"All clear," she says. "Lots of scars and bruises, but no bites. And when was the last time you had somethin' to eat?"

I think back to the squirrel Caroline and I had shared this morning. It was our usual portion. As I looked down, I could see my ribs poking through my skin. I somewhat resembled a skeleton. I looked away from her. "This morning."

"Well, ya need some meat on your bones," she chuckles. "We'll fix you both up somethin' good right away."

She checks over Caroline and declares her as infection free, and then they give us new—well, newer clothes to wear instead of the rags we'd shown up in. I slipped on a pair of jeans I guessed were Lori's, and an oversized t-shirt. They give Caroline some of Sophia's clothes.

They roasted some meats and other things like beans I knew they must have saved from before the outbreak. The camp all sits around, mostly together in a circle. They dig into the food, and I realize this is the most I've eaten in weeks. I try to be delicate and use manners, but the taste gets to me, and I end up shoving it into my mouth eagerly.

"So Aubrey," I hear Shane say between mouthfuls. "Where you from?"

I feel my muscles stiffen. Do I tell them? I figure I would need to eventually, if I were ever planning on rescuing Reese. "We're originally from Baltimore," I tell him.

"Wow, you traveled a long way," Carol says, her eyes consistently shifting to her daughter protectively.

"Yes," I agree. Do I tell them I was boarded onto a military truck and hoisted down to find a death camp awaiting me? "We were told of a safety camp down here somewhere."

"The CDC?" Rick asks. "That's where we're headed."

"It's still here?" I ask him.

"That's what we're gonna find out. Why? Have you heard anything about it?"

I think back to when the walkie-talkie's were still working and I could hear voices shouting at the guards around camp, telling them when and where each CDC was failing. I don't remember if they mentioned one in Georgia so I shake my head. "I haven't."

"We're gonna try our luck there," Rick says.

"And if it's ruined?"

"Shane thinks Fort Benning might be stable. But it's a long way away. So we're goin' to the CDC first."

"And you don't mind if Caroline and I come along?"

"Not at all. We're always happy to have fellow survivors," Rick smiles.

I smile back, and decide that as soon as I can get some alone time with him, I'll tell him about the camp. Then, we'll go to the CDC, hopefully find some stronger forces, go back to camp, and set everyone free of their miserable fates. I feel a glimmer of hope spread throughout my chest.

"Where did you get them." It's more of a statement than a word. It comes from one of the members I recognize as Andrea. She sits next to an older man, who had happily introduced himself as Dale. There's something in her eyes, a long of torture and pain. "Your scars," she adds when I give her a questioning look. "And the bruises and blood. Where did you get them?"

My brain struggles for a valid excuse. I feel Caroline tense beside me, but I know she won't speak up unless I tell her to. It's all up to me. "Car accident," I murmur. "I was in a car accident when the outbreak began."

This seems to satisfy most of the group, as their eyes are full of sympathy. I can't help but notice, though, Andrea and Shane exchange a look, their eyes filled with an emotion I can't quite place. I shrug it off. I have the rest of the groups compassion, and that's all I need.

"Where'd ya go after tha outbreak?"

I hadn't even noticed him. He stands, leaning against his ragged pickup truck, in a sleeveless shirt, a crossbow wrapped around his shoulder. He eyes me with the same intensity that Shane and Andrea had, except his gaze gives me chills. He bounces himself off the truck and then throws his squirrel bones into the pile we'd made in the center of our "circle".

"We've just been skipping around," I lie quickly, forcing myself to keep eye contact. "There were a few people we came across that were happy to give us some shelter for a few days."

"Why didn't you stay with them?" Shane asks.

"Because we were trying to make our way down here."

"Why?" Carol pipes in.

"My parents used to live in Atlanta." My voice is flat. This is true. My parents did live in Georgia. When I turned 18, I immediately left, and went up to bunk with a friend in Baltimore. A few weeks after, Caroline joined me, mostly because my parents were never around to make time for her. I always made sure I had time for her. Always.

"You know, about Atlanta, right?" Rick asks, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

Yes. I heard the guards talking about it one day. They said they'd sent in troops to control the infected, but their plan backfired. The whole city was in ruins. "Yes," I answer finally.

There's a silence forming, and I bite my lip. I hate awkward silences, and right now, the only thing plaguing my mind is the thought of Reese. I know there's a good chance he's probably dead. Marks shot woman because she took extra bread for her children. Reese tried to escape. Marks would either torture him, or kill him right away. I hope for the latter. I don't want Reese to suffer anymore than he's had to already.

"Maybe we should start gettin' ready to head out on the road?" Lori aims her question at her husband.

"Sounds like a good idea. We'll finish up collecting anything we can and then we'll head out." Rick doesn't wait for anyone to agree, he just stands and walks away, and just like that, the entire group spreads apart.

"Here." I hear a voice next to me and turn to face an Asian boy I'd noticed earlier handing me my bow. "I found this on the ground and I figured it was yours."

"Thanks." I grab the bow and swing it around my back, casually looking around to see if Rick is alone.

"No problem. I'm Glenn," he smiles and hold out his hand. I return the smile less enthusiastically and grasp his hand lightly.

"Aubrey."  
>"I know," he smiles again, but its cut off when we hear Shane calling his name. He rolls his eyes. "Well I better get going. It was nice to meet you."<p>

"You too."

I search again for Rick but he's seemed to disappear completely. I frown and am about to go look for him when I feel another presence take up Glenn's space. I turn to find the sleeveless redneck. "Ya 'ny good with tha' thing?" he nods towards my bow.

"I'm alright," I reply, shrugging slightly.

"She's great with it." I suddenly realize Caroline's still at my side looking up at the man.

"Why don't you go make friends with Carl and Sophia?" I tell her. I need to find Rick. She hesitates, but catches Sophia's eye and makes her way slowly towards the young girl. I turn my attention back to Daryl. He's still looking at me, but he seems more impatient.

"Ya hunt with it?" he asks.

"I do."

"Well c'mon then." He doesn't say anything else, just starts making his way towards the woods, not even looking over his shoulder to see if I'm following. I stare after him, confused for a moment, but then jog after to catch up.

"Aubrey," I say when I reach him.

"Wha?" he asks, glancing slightly.

"My name's Aubrey."

"I know tha'."

"Oh. And your name?"

"Daryl."

"Nice to meet you." The response I get is a grunt. I roll my eyes and keep up to speed with him.

We walk to the edge of the woods in silence, and he doesn't make any notion that I'm there until he looks over his shoulder before plunging into the forest. I follow him quickly, walking lightly. We reach a good depth into the forest, and I close my eyes, allowing my other senses to pick up.

I hear many things; the songs of birds, the chattering of a woodpecker, a light crunch here and there, which could only be squirrels scrambling around the floor. I open my eyes and see my fellow hunter staring at me. I don't say anything but nod slightly and look up into the trees. I wet my lips and make a soft purr sound. A few moments later, a bird replicates the sound, making its way closer to us.

I see him. He's landed on a branch. He's small, but he could easily make a meal for one of the kids, or a snack. I breathe in and raise my bow. I exhale, and let the arrow fly. It punctures the bird fatally, and it's frail body falls to the floor. I run to it, and remember I forgot my prey bag back with my old clothes. I look towards Daryl and see him smirking at me. I smirk back and throw the lifeless animal to him.

"I forgot my prey-bag," I tell him.

"I'll take it," he says, clipping its limp body onto a holder wrapped around his body. "Where'd ya learn tha'?" he asks, before searching the woods for any sign of life.

"Shooting?"

"Tha' call."

"My friend. He used to hunt all the time. He taught me everything I know." The thought of Reese makes my heart ache.

"Smart man," he says before walking again. I guess it's time for us to change our hunting spot.

"What about you?" I ask him, quickly trying to catch up and not fall behind. "Where'd you get that thing?" I motion at the crossbow slung around his shoulder.

"Family heirloom."

"Ah," I breathe. "How'd you find these people?"

"Ya sure do talk a lot," he grumbles, and I shut my mouth. "Scarin' tha' prey off."

"I'm not sure they mind all too much," I tell him, looking up at a sparrow that has his gaze set on us. He pecks at the branch and then looks up again. I get the feeling that most animals don't fear people anymore, since there aren't many of us around.

I lift my bow again, but Daryl holds his hand up. He wants this to himself. I watch him, as he watches the bird. His eyes are intense. His muscles are tight. Wait. I take a closer look. His muscles. I can't help but notice how toned and, well, large they are. I blush and look away. He's attractive, I decide. For a redneck.

I almost miss it when he easily takes out the sparrow with his bow. He walks over to it and picks it up, placing it right next to my smaller finch. "Tha's how it's dun," he smirks and continues on.

"You never answered my question," I tell him, as I walk alongside him.

"'N you never shut the hell up," he retorts.

He catches me by surprise with the comment, but I just shrug and brush it off. Not like I need friends anyway, and this guy's clearly not the kind of friend I'd want anyway.

"Me an' my brother Merle came across 'em," he says after a few moments of silence.

"Your brother?" I try to think of the group. "Is he the black-haired one that hangs around Rick?"

He snorts. "No fuckin' way. They abandoned Merle. Handcuffed 'em to tha' roof of a mall, and left 'em. I wen' back for 'em, bu' he was gone."

I don't know exactly how to react. Surprise, because they left his brother for dead. Nervous, because maybe these people aren't as safe as I originally thought. Or scared, because there was obviously a reason they left his brother handcuffed on a roof, and here I am, in the middle of the woods with his bad-attitude brother. I raise my eyebrows. "Why did they leave him?"

"Apparently he was causin' trouble. No surprise there," he snorts.

"What do you mean he was just gone?"

"Wen' up to tha' roof 'n all we found was his hand 'n a bloody cuff."

My mouth opens in complete shock. "He sawed his own hand off?"

"I would imagine that's why we foun' 'is hand. Not attached to his body." He snorts.

"Oh wow," I shake my head. Bleeding, no hand. He was sure to be dead. Complete walker bait. "I'm sorry."

"Wha' for?" he asks.

"Your brother?"

"He ain't dead yet. Nothin' to be sorry for."

I nod and we continue walking in silence. We stop every so often, and we get a few squirrels and some more sparrows. My call proves to be extremely successful, and we catch more birds then I guessed Daryl expected. He turns out to be a good hunting partner, much like Reese was. I find myself staring off in the distance towards the end of our hunt.

"Shit!" I hear him growl, snapping me back to reality.

"What?"

"Ya scared off tha' squirrel! I almost had 'em!"

"Sorry," I mutter. I guess I hadn't been looking where I was walking. I shake my head and try to focus. He notices my far off expression and slings his bow over his shoulder.

"It's probably 'bout time ta head back 'nyway." He starts walking in the direction we'd come from. I follow with less enthusiasm than before.

"Okay."

"Did your friend do tha?" I follow his gaze to a bruise around my wrist. The bruise I had gotten from the guard who grabbed me before Caroline and I had walked out of the camp. I rub it self-consciously.

"I told you," I mutter. "Car accident."

"Tha' ain't from no car accident," he scoffs.

"It is."

"Whatever ya say."

We make our way back to camp in no time. Daryl immediately splits up from me to go skin and gut our kill. I see Caroline talking with Carl and Sophia and can't help but smile. "What are you guys talking about?" I ask as I walk up to the three of them.

"I'm telling them about Dexter," Caroline smiles at the memory of the dark brown horse that we'd brought into our family with open arms.

"Ah," I ruffle the top of her head. "Did you tell them about the time he bucked me off of him?"

She giggles. "I'll tell them now!"

I linger for a moment to hear her start telling the story, and then walk away, setting my bow down and scanning for Rick. He's over with Lori, Shane, and Dale. I wonder how I can get him alone without seeming suspicious. Then, as if God himself heard my thoughts, Rick walks away from his group and right towards me.

"Hey Aubrey. Good hunt?" he asks, glancing at Daryl who's busy at work skinning the critters.

"Great," I reply, smiling. "Hey, can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure, but first, do you know anythin' about skinning and gutting?" he asks.

"Yeah, I had to learn to feed Caroline, but—"

"Do you mind helpin' Daryl? We really want to eat so we can get to bed, and get up first thing in tha' morning to find the CDC."

"Uh, sure, no problem," I nod in respect and watch as he walks away from me, and over to Carol and Glenn. I roll my eyes, but turn to face the sleeveless redneck. I shake my head and start stalking my way towards him, pausing only once, when I can swear I hear Diana's voice in the wind.

_Don't forget about us._

And I won't. Not now, not ever. _I'll come back,_ I promise the wind. _I'll save you all, even if it costs me my life_. And when I can almost see Reese's picture standing in front of me, I realize that I mean every word.


	3. Safe and Sound

_Safe and Sound_.

"Do you have any three's?"

I stare at the cards I'm holding in my hands. Carl looks at me expectedly. "Go fish," I murmur.

He frowns and grabs a card from a pile. I yawn and look out the window of the RV. I feel like we've been driving for hours. Maybe we have. I'm not sure. I force my attention back to the game and see it's Sophia's turn, and she naturally turns to Caroline and asks in her soft voice, "Do you have any six's?"

Caroline reluctantly hands over a card and then slumps back into her seat. "Aubrey, do you have any eight's?"

"Go fish."

"You're cheating," she accuses, sitting up again.

"Am not."

"Are too!"

"How am I cheating?"

She tears my stack from my hands and flips through. "A three _and_ an eight!" she says, throwing them face-up on the table.

"Sorry."

It's not like I'm meaning to cheat, I seriously didn't even realize I had the cards. My mind is jumping from place to place, I don't have the focus to concentrate on a game of Go Fish. I set my cards on the table and quietly dismiss myself, sitting beside Glenn who offered to tag along with me in the older vehicle.

"I'm surprised Carol and Lori actually agreed to let us ride in the RV without them," he says.

"Yeah, I know." I look around. There's Caroline, Carl, and Sophia at the table. Andrea, staring off into space on the opposite side of Glenn and I, and good ol' Dale, steering the truck with no complaints.

"They've been getting along really well," he notes, looking at the kids who were giggling amongst themselves.

"I'm glad," I say. "Caroline hasn't laughed like this in a long time."

"Yeah, it's pretty nice what we have going here. Kind of makes the whole thing somewhat normal."

"Somewhat," I agree half-heartedly.

"Were you in college?" he asks suddenly, changing the subject.

"Yeah. Sophomore year," I smile.

"What were you studying?" he asks.

"Veterinary science. Mostly horses, and other farm animals."

"Oh wow. That's awesome."

"What about you?"

"Yeah. Kind of undecided about what I wanted to study though. I worked second-hand as a pizza delivery boy," he laughs.

Before I can help myself, I realize that I'm laughing too. And not just a calm chuckle, but a full-blown laugh. Before long, I'm clutching my stomach and wiping tears from my eyes. "You? A delivery boy?"

"Believe it or not," he chuckles, and rolls his eyes. "I know, I know. You're probably just shocked that I never got into the male modeling business, but I just didn't think they could handle this."

He strikes a pose, and I find myself almost keeling over in laughter. I'm not really sure why, but it feels good, and I need it. Like Caroline, I can't even remember the last time I truly laughed. I slowly calm myself down and lean back in my seat. "That's so funny."

He's about to reply when all of the sudden the RV starts slowing down. I hear Dale mutter a curse from the front seat and he pulls over. The other cars behind and in front of us follow our lead. I walk up to the driver's seat.

"What's going on?" I ask him.

"I don't know. The engine just stopped working. We'll have to check under the hood," he sighs and turns the truck off. I wonder if this happens often.

We exit the vehicle, and Rick and Shane are already looking at the mechanics, rubbing their temples frustratingly. I take this moment to stretch. I look around the area. Abandoned highway. Of course. I squint in the burning sun and see that one person is detached from the group. Daryl. He has his head buried in a car, and he's obviously looking for something. Against my better judgment, I walk towards him.

"What are you looking for?" I ask.

He jumps up, startled and mutters a curse. "Shit! Can' go sneakin' up on people like tha'."

_Don't sneak up on people._ Reese's rule. I frown. "Sorry."

"Ya wan' somethin'?" he asks, wiping his forehead with his arm.

"Just wondering if you could use some help."

He eyes me for a moment, and then nods. "Jus' lookin' for anythin' useful."

"Okay." Without waiting for further instruction, I open the car door nearest to me. I look past the stains of blood on the passenger seat and reach into the glove box. Just some old car records and a packet of tissues. I close it and open the back door. Nothing.

I give up on that car, and look up. Daryl's already made his way down the line of cars. I purse my lips and swiftly walk to catch up. He looks up at the sound of my footsteps, but ignores me and continues his search for whatever he's looking for. He slams the car door shut and goes to the next car. I walk up to it and lean against the dark blue Acura.

"Is that your motorcycle?" I ask him, seeing the vehicle set in the back of his pickup truck.

"Merle's," he answers without looking up.

"Do you know how to ride it?"

He looks up at me like I'm stupid. "Yah." He goes back to his search between seat cushions and under the floor boards. "Why? You ride 'em?"

"No," I giggle. If I tried to ride a motorcycle on my own, there's about a ninety-nine percent chance I'd crash and burn before I even turned the engine on. "I had an old boyfriend who used to own one."

"Good taste," he grunts from his position in the car.

I make a noise. Not so sure about that. The bastard cheated on me with some slut I had the decency to call my best friend. But I decide not to tell Daryl this. Not like he would care anyway.

"Do you think the CDC will still be there?" He pulls himself out of the car and gives me a look before deciding to search elsewhere.

"Dunno. I thin' we shoul' just stick to ourselves. We were doin' fine back at the other camp."

"Other camp?"

"Yah."

"What happened to it?"

"Geeks foun' us."

"I see."

"Wha?"  
>"You can't really say that you were doing fine if the infected found you," I tell him a little too matter-of-factly than intended.<p>

"'T was their damn faults! Made a huge fire n' expected nothin' bad to come of it. Geeks coulda seen it for miles."

Before I can reply, we both turn to the sound of Rick and Shane calling our names. Must of fixed the engine. We make our way back in silence, and he jumps into his pickup truck without saying another word. I make my way to the RV and step inside. Glenn's already there, a washcloth pressed to his forehead.

"You okay?" I ask him before sitting down beside him.

"It's so hot out there," he moans. "I think I'm getting heatstroke."

"Oh God," I roll my eyes but crack a smile. "Okay grandma."

"Hey, it's hard having black hair," he says shutting his eyes and placing the drenched washcloth over them.

"Shane looks fine," I tell him, looking out the window to see the man walking back to his Jeep with his longer pitch-dark hair. Glenn opens one eye and glares at me. I smile and take my seat next to him.

"Where were you?" he asks, sitting up and grabbing a water bottle he had at his side and taking a sip of it.

"Looking around. Checking things out."

"By yourself?" he asks.

"No. With Daryl."

"Daryl?" he raises his eyebrows in shock. "Did he like," he trails off and narrows his eyes at me. "Threaten you?"

"Threaten me? What are you talking about?"

He looks at me questionably for a moment. And he opens his mouth to speak, but someone beats him to the punch.

"Daryl isn't the friendliest person in the world." The voice comes from Andrea. It's the first thing she's spoken to me the whole time, besides her accusing question back when I first arrived. Maybe she's decided she wants to be friends.

"He seems okay to me," I say.

"I'm pretty sure he's tried to kill every one of us on some occasion," Glenn pipes in again.

"He hasn't tried to kill me," I retort.

"Probably because you can hunt," Andrea says, tearing her eyes away from the window. "I think he gets annoyed that he's the only one attempting to put food on the table."

"He's the only one?"

"Yeah, but no one else grew up in the boondocks and knows how," Glenn murmurs.

"Wow, that's harsh. No wonder he wants to kill you." I laugh. Glenn glares.

"Daryl seems alright. Just angry about his brother, but wouldn't you be?" Andrea's glower at Glenn is almost deadly. I turn to the Asian and see his eyes are filled with sympathy. I don't understand the look, but I decide to brush it off.

"You're right," Glenn says. "Better than Merle, I guess."

"Merle was bad?" I ask, feeling completely out of the conversation.

"Yeah, made a lot of people nervous. Plus, I'm pretty sure he was always on drugs. He was just extremely rude. And racist."

"Oh, I see."

"Do you have any siblings besides Caroline?" Glenn asks, clearing changing the subject again. A card I've found him to be good at.

My mind instantly jumps to Reese. "No. Just me and her." I smile at her as she continues to play cards with Carl and Sophia.

"And you two were together when the outbreak occurred?" Andrea asks.

"Yeah. We were both born down here, in Georgia, but as soon as I turned eighteen I left and went up to Baltimore. Caroline came to live with me up there." Reese had also followed in my footsteps, but I don't mention that.

"And you're parents were okay with that?" Glenn asks.

"Nah. They didn't care all too much. Probably a relief."

"Seriously? Sending both their children off a relief?"

"They both worked full time, seven days a week. They didn't really have spare time for anything else."

"Even for their kids? I can see why you left at eighteen."

"One of the best decisions of my life."

We stop a little while later for a lunch break, and so the driver's could stretch their legs. Daryl and I had hunted enough to last us until tonight, so there was no need to go off into the woods again. We all sit around in our individual circles this time. I'm next to Glenn, Caroline, Lori, Carl, Rick, Carol and Sophia. The others ate in their own little groups. I assume the only reason they'd eaten together earlier is because I had come.

After we spend about twenty minutes resting, it's time to get back on the road. Rick thinks we're close to the CDC, and we all seem to get anxious, because no one in the RV speaks at all as we drive. Glenn shares glances with me every so often, but no words are spoken. We all sit in a trance, kind of like Andrea had been in for so long.

"Hey Aubrey." Glenn's voice is barely above a whisper and I have to lean closer to him to make sure I hear him correctly. "What if it's not there?"

"It'll be there," I reassure him. He glances out the window, his eyebrows furrowed so close together I had to blink to remember he didn't have a unibrow.

"But what if it's not?" his gaze is directed towards me again and I give him my best reassurance smile. The one I usually give to Caroline.

"Then we go somewhere else. You guys seem like a strong group of people. I'm not worried."

"Yeah, I know. But people do do crazy things when their lives are in danger."

My mind flicks to Marks. "We'll be okay," I smile again and place my hand on his, which is resting on his light jeans. His hand tenses under my touch, but he gives me a natural smile and returns his vacant glare out the window.

I could tell that Carl, Sophia, and Caroline we're growing restless. I, too, begin to feel jitters in my legs, and it takes everything not to get up and start pacing. If Caroline sees my nerves, she'll panic too, which will most likely have a domino effect. So I bite my lip like I usually do in time of anxiety, and keep my eyes focused on the rapidly passing trees.

And then it happens. We arrive. Dale lets out a small relief-laugh from the front seat, and we sit up in our seats and see the building a little ways ahead. Glenn and I race up to the front window, looking at it. There are a lot of military trucks, and to our dismay, it seems the sound of our cars have triggered some of the dead to rise, but I don't feel scared because of it. We made it. We're safe.

We park the cars and follow as Rick leads the group to the main doors. The smell is toxic as it makes it's way into my nose, and I softly tell Caroline to pull her shirt up to block the wretched stench. I find that most of the group is doing this now. We walk quickly, which Rick uttering small lines of encouragement from the front. I find myself just a few steps ahead of Daryl, and I share a glance with him and he re-grips his crossbow firmly, giving me a nod of what I took to be support.

I try not to look at the dead and mutilated bodies scattered all around the area, and I silently pray that they all truly _are_ dead, and not going to jump up at anytime and rip our throats out. Rick and Shane reach the doors first, and Shane tugs on the bottom of one frantically. It doesn't open.

"It's locked!" Rick mutters in panic after he's tried pulling on the handles. Shane bangs on them now, yelling. But nothing happens. It's then that I realize more dead are reanimating. I feel an intense urge in my chest. Why weren't the doors opening? I feel Caroline grip my arm and I see she's terrified. I can't breathe.

I hear Daryl growl, "walkers!" from the back of the group, and then a shot rings out. A geek, much too close for my comfort, falls to the ground. I winced at the lingering ring the gun had made. More walkers would come now, and there was no where for them to go. I shudder.

"Come on Rick! There's no one there we have to go back!" Shane's yelling now.

Rick hesitates, but starts to move back, as we all follow Shane. But Rick suddenly stops and looks up. "The camera!" he shouts. "It moved!"

"Rick it's automatic!" Shane yells, focusing his gun at some approaching walkers.

"Please open the doors!"

I shake my head and begin to feel a pain in my chest. This is it. The walkers have us surrounded, and either the person in the CDC is ignoring us, or there really isn't anyone there. _I'm so sorry Diana. I'm sorry Reese. I'm sorry Caroline. I've failed you all._ I feel the tears creep up behind my eyes and I struggle to keep them back.

And then, as if the gates of Heaven are opening before us, the CDC doors begin to slide upward. We all stare in disbelief for a moment, but after a few moments of heavy blinking, and another encouraging shout from Rick, we all stampede through the doors, watching as they close quickly behind us.

All of the eyes in the room move rapidly, from wall to wall, waiting for our savior to show their face. The men still have their weapons drawn, and I keep my hand wrapped tightly around my bow, searching for any signs of danger.

"Hello?" Rick calls, his voice echoing throughout the large lobby I finally take the moment to scan over. It's clean, I note. Very clean. Almost like the lobby of a doctors office.

We hear a gun cock, which is repeated by every gun in the room, and the figure of a man comes into focus from just ahead. "Any of you infected?" he asks in a deep voice.

"One of our group was," Rick keeps his eyes on the man. "He didn't make it."

One of their group was infected? Glenn failed to give me that information. I reposition my hand on my bow and wait for his next words. Will he take us in? I can feel beads of sweat break out from my hairline. Wonderful.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" his voice is almost distressed.

"A chance," Rick answers, his blue eyes defiant and piercing in the dim light.

"That's asking an awful lot these days."

Rick takes a moment to think. He knows it's true. We all do. "I know," he answers simply.

The man relaxes a little and steps forward slightly. He has blonde hair, short but not too short. Overall, an average looking guy. I loosen my grip on the weapon. My fingers cramp from the strong hold I'd had on it, and I flex them, feeling a few bones pop.

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

"We can do that."

The man releases his weapon to his side and takes deep breaths, seemingly relaxing. "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once these doors close, they stay closed."

The men immediately spring into action. They grab all of our things, insisting that the women and children stay in the lobby. I smile gratefully as Glenn hands me my prey-bag still full of items Caroline and I couldn't spare.

"Thank you."

"No problem," he replies, smiling. Once the rest of the bags are dragged inside, the man walks over to a security control pad looking thing, and speaks to it. "Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here." The woman, I presume, complies and the doors are fastened, cutting us off finally from the Hell that lies outside.

I turn away from Glenn and watch as Rick walks up to our redeemer and offers his hand. "Rick Grimes."

The man stares awkwardly in another direction and simply replies, "Dr. Edwin Jenner."

Rick slowly puts his hand down as Jenner walks away from him and in another direction, and eventually leads us to an elevator. We all pile inside, and I find myself a little too close between Daryl and Glenn. I keep my eyes focused on the doctor though, and Daryl speaks all of our thoughts.

"Doctors always go around packin' heat like tha'?" it's more of a demand than a question, but Jenner doesn't seem fazed by Daryl's intimidation-filled stare.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself," he tells us. "But you all look harmless enough." He pauses for a moment and then leans down a little towards Carl and smiles. "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you." He jokes, a smile growing on both Carl and Jenner.

The next thing I know, we're being hoarded out of the elevator and into a narrow hallway. I find myself beside Glenn again, but Daryl is trailing the back.

"Are we underground?" I hear the ever-so-cautious Carol ask.

The doctor nods. "You claustrophobic?"

"A little," she admits, keeping a firm grip on her daughter's hand.

"Just try not to think about it."

I try to keep my own breathing calm, and realize that my father had told me I most likely had claustrophobia too. We were driving through a long tunnel, probably one that lead into New York City. I remember my breath shortening and my dad informing me to breathe slowly and concentrate on other things. That was probably the only thing he'd said to me the entire trip.

Even though the memory was unintentional and not one of my favorites, it did it's job to keep my mind off of the narrow space. We finally reach our destination. It's a huge room, crowded by desks with computers and a lot of other electronics I can't even begin to name. Everything's so shiny. I quickly shut my mouth when I realize it's gaped open slightly.

"Vi, bring on the lights in the big room," Jenner declares to the invisible woman. The lights go on and I realize it's even more fantastic than I realized before. It looks like it belongs in some sort of Star Trek movie. "Welcome to Zone Five."

Where is everyone?" Rick asks as we trail along behind Jenner.

"I'm it." He looks at us. "It's just me here."

"What about the person you were speaking to?" Lori asks. "Vi?"

"Vi, tell our guests welcome," Jenner booms to no one.

"Welcome, guests."

I mentally kick myself. It was a machine. How could I have not put that together?

"I'm all that's left." His eyes are looking at us, but they appear vacant and solemn. "I'm sorry."

I swallow hard and feel the anxiety creep upon me once again. I expected military support, doctors and scientists working on cures, and what did we get? A lonely doctor who appears to have a trust issue. I grind my teeth. I wouldn't find help for Reese here. I am wrong. Again.

"You okay?"

I snap back to reality when I realize almost everyone was on their way walking behind Jenner again. Except for me and Glenn. Even Caroline sticks to Sophia and Carl. Glenn looks concerned and I slowly shake my head. "Yeah, sorry. Just spaced out for a second."

"Oh, I gotcha. Happens to me sometimes too."

I smile at him and we quickly slow-job to catch up with the group.

We pack into another small area, that holds a few hospital beds and medical items. I guess this is where Jenner will be performing our blood tests. Andrea's first up, I see, and Jenner wastes no time in taking out the needle and swiftly shoving it into her vein. I try not to lose my calm again.

"What's the point?" she asks with spite in her voice. "If we were infected, we'd all be running fevers by now."

"I'm already breaking a ton of rules by letting you in here, I should at least be thorough," he counters, finishing filling her needle, and releases her arm from his grasp. "All done."

She slowly starts to stand, and Jacqui helps her up as she almost falls back down. Jenner straightens his back and stares suspiciously at the weak woman.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"She hasn't eaten a decent meal in days," the woman replies protectively. "None of us have."

Jenner looks with an expression I can't quite comprehend but continues to perform his tests, none the less. Almost everyone has volunteered until it gets down to me, Carl, and Caroline. Everyone turns to us expectedly and I straighten my back. Carl's eyes narrow with a look that says I need to volunteer. I snort.

"I won Go Fish like four times in a row," I tell him. "Winners get first pick."

"You only won because you cheated!" Carl retorts.

I feign surprise and place my hand over my heart. "How could you even say that? I would _never _cheat." I smirk at the boy and he sticks his tongue out at me. I smile.

"I'll go," Caroline whispers from beside me. I know she's also afraid of needles. I grab her hand and follow her over to the seat. She sits down nervously and I give her a squeeze.

"It'll be over so quickly, you won't even realize," I tell her.

"If you think it'll be that simple, why didn't you want to go?"

"I'm not as strong as you are."

She smiles softly at that, and her hand clutches mine harder as Jenenr sticks the needle into her arm next. Her face twists in mild pain, but when it's over, she smiles and stands up, motioning to the seat. "Your turn." She smirks.

"Alright, alright,." I say, sitting down and feeling Jenner's gloved hand gently massage the skin on my arm for a moment before sanitizing it.

"Are you all family?" he asks me quietly.

"No. Pretty much came upon each other by chance. Caroline's my sister, but that's about it."

"I see." His eyes are still vacant as he plunges the needle into my blood. I stifle a gasp of surprise, and clutch my fist. "Just relax your hand," he orders, and I slowly comply.

When it's over, I realize I've made a big deal out of nothing, and that getting a yearly tetanus booster shot hurt almost ten times worse than this. I see Carl make a face at me as his mother drags him towards the stool, and we all wait patiently for them to finish.

"Wasn't too bad, huh?" Dale asks from the wall he's leaning on.

"She almost cried," Caroline laughs before I can reply.

"That's a lie," I narrow my eyes at her.

She mocks me from before, and places a hand over her heart. "I would _never!_"

Everyone chuckles and I glare at the little who suddenly looks ten times her age standing before me. I roll my eyes and scuff her hair, ignoring her protest. A few moments after, Carl is back at the group, somewhat beaming at how great he'd handled the whole situation.

We're now following Jenner to who knows where, and this time, I fall into step beside the redneck hunter. He still carries the crossbow around his shoulder, which makes me feel a little safer than I already do.

"Still carrying that thing?" I question as his gaze lifts off the ground to look towards me. I feel the weight of my bow and arrow on my back, but Daryl's got his all ready for battle, if it came to that.

"Jus' in case," he replies.

"Jenner seems nice enough."

"Ya never know," he says.

I reposition the bags on my back, and feel a surge of pain shoot through my arm, coming from the wound I'd just received from that nasty little needle.

"Ow," I mutter, placing my hand on the bandage.

"Did tha' needle really bother ya?" he asks, his eyebrows rising with disbelief.

I narrow my eyes. "Needle wounds always hurt worse after a while. That's," I lift up my finger pointedly, "a fact."

"Whatever ya say," he shakes his head but his lips are pulled into a small smirk.

"Okay, macho man," I scoff playfully. "But when your arm starts to hurt, don't look at me."

"Dun plan on it."

"Good."

"Yup."

I roll my eyes and check once more, and see that the smile is still plastered slightly on his face. Feeling somewhat accomplished, I speed up my pace and fall into step beside Glenn. "Do you know where were going?"

"Nope. Rick and Shane are walking up there with Jenner, but I can't make out what they're saying."

"Hmm." I look at the three men leading the group, then look back towards Glenn, who's smiling like he'd just won the lottery. "What?" I ask him, questioning his ecstatic stare.

"Aubrey," he glances towards me and if it's possible, his smile grows even wider.

"We found the CDC. We're here. We're safe!" he exclaims, adjusting his hat.

"I know," I smile back.

But my smile quickly fades. Sure, _I'm _safe. But what about everyone back at camp? I decide that it's urgent I speak with Rick, but I find that he's always with someone else, discussing important things. I shake my head. I _have_ to do this, or else I might be too late. I might already be too late anyway. If Marks did punish the entire camp for my act of rebellion, over half the group would probably be dead, and they'd probably be the ones _I _loved. Diana. Alice. Robert. Betty's children. Reese. My heart pounds when his name flies through my brain.

I need to tell someone. Now, before it's too late. I take a deep breath and turn to the only person I'm one hundred percent positive I trust.

"Hey Glenn?" I ask, clearing my voice after realizing how shaky it's become. "Can I tell you something?"

**Dun dun dun! Hey guys! So sorry this is so late! I usually try to update every week, but I was on a cruise last week so I didn't get the chance to work on it… Not that I'm complaining ;D**

**So anyway, for this chapter, since it was pretty much the sixth episode, I tried to match up dialogue that I could but also made some of it my own so it's not like I completely copied everything ahaha.**

**So I hope you liked it, and thank you so much for the feedback! I've already started working on the fourth chapter so that should be out soon enough! Thanks again so much for reading!**


	4. Tell Me Your Secrets

_Tell Me Your Secrets_

Alcohol makes everything better.

It's a fact I've come to agree with immensely and practice on more than several occasions. Being underage didn't seem to stop anyone those days, and if you knew the right people, finding the wonderfully devilish substance was a cinch. That's why I had plenty of experience. High school had me prepared.

It turns out that Jenner was taking us to a large cafeteria-like center to eat. Food. Like, real, actual food. I couldn't hide the wide smile that crossed my face. Sure, it isn't gourmet, and it was probably most likely leftover SPAM, but compared to the few scraps I'd been eating for the past couple months, this meal was like a meal from God himself.

We sit down at the table, trying to hold ourselves back from looking like barbarians, but we all know how each other feel. The food sits at the center, and it's steaming, and mocking us all. Rick quickly passes around the servings, trying not to salivate as the smell invades his starving senses.

"Take as much as you like," Jenner says from the end of the table.

I think that was the moment we all decide at once, fuck it, and we began take handfuls of the food, passing it around and stuffing our faces. We laugh, but no one's said anything funny. And then, when it seems as though it can't get any better, Jenner breaks out the wine.

Dale walks around the table and gives us each a glass, and pours generously. Then he gets to Carl, and Lori throws her hand over the top of the glass defensively.

"Well now, in Italy children are aloud to drink!" Dale argues, as the rest of the group begins to debate.

"Well when we take Carl to Italy he can have some there," Lori shakes her head. "And, not to mention," she takes a quick pause to look at me. "How old are you again Aubrey?"

"Um. Twenty-two?" I say, giving her a fake smile.

"Yeah, okay," she snorts, but decides to let it go.

"Oh, what'll it hurt," I hear Rick say, smiling at Lori. "Just give 'em a little."

Lori hesitates but takes her hand off the opening of the glass. "There you are young lad," Dale pours the glass about a quarter of the way and then steps back. Carl gives a quick smile to his dad, and then grabs the glass hastily.

He takes a couple quick sips and pauses for a second, accounting for the flavor. Then suddenly, he scrunches his face and wails "eewww!"

The whole table laughs while Lori pats her son on the shoulder. "That's my boy," she mutters, nodding in approval.

Dale finally reaches Caroline and I and pauses before the young girl sitting next to me. "Care to try?" he asks. Caroline looks at me expectedly and I shrug and motion for her to go ahead and she accepts the wine with a smile.

"Aubrey?" he asks next.

"Yes _please_," I tell him, grabbing the glass as soon as he's done and taking a large swig of it. I look over at Caroline who takes a whiff of the drink cautiously.

She puts her lips to the glass, and it seems as if everyone is waiting in an intense silence to see if the small girl enjoys the drink or not. With one last glance in my direction, she allows the red liquid to slide smoothly into her mouth. Her eyebrows twitch into a furrow and the corners of her lips turn down.

"Carl's right. That's gross," she shakes her head and grabs the water, sucking it in, trying to drown out the taste of the wine. Everyone laughs again.

The laughter continues on, and even Daryl seems to be having a good time. He's got a bottle of wine he's obviously claimed as his own held tightly in his right hand, and he takes a few swigs every so often, a big smile plastered on his face every time. Leave it to alcohol to make even the most bitter man crack a smile.

"You both might as well stick to soda pop." Shane's voice is soft but heard throughout the table. He's the only one who seems on edge. His hands are wound tightly together and his dark eyes are lifeless. He stares down at the table and only gives the smallest glance towards Caroline and Carl.

"Not you Glenn," Daryl says as his bottle runs out, and he walks over to a new one and takes it back to his spot at the end of the table.

"What?" Glenn says, in between chuckles.

"Keep drinkin' lil' man. I wanna see how red yer face can git," he smiles wickedly and a chorus of laughter and 'ooohs' from the table are his response.

Glenn shakes his head, but his smile still sticks, and he takes a small sip from his glass. I roll my eyes and take another swig from mine. The liquid feels good as it travels coolly down my throat. A good escape from the warm water we'd only had available the past couple weeks. I could sympathize with Carl and Caroline; wine has an acquired taste, and it wasn't until I was old enough to know the effects that I truly _wanted_ to acquire that taste. They'd learn soon enough. But I knew this wouldn't be appropriate to bring up at the moment. Not with Mama Bear Lori in front of me.

I notice Rick send an apprehensive glance at our host, and this is the first time I get a good look at him. He's not having a good time like the rest of us. His expression somewhat matches Shane's. He's stares down, only glancing up every once in a while, though there's not emotion in his eyes. Empty. I shudder. Something didn't seem right.

"It seems to me that we haven't properly thanked our host," Rick stands and clinks a knife against his wine glass slightly.

"He's more than just our host," T-Dog states, raising his glance. The gesture is repeated by everyone at the table, and is followed by a chorus of 'hear hear''s! I clink my glass with Caroline's cup of water and smile genuinely at our savior. He gives a small nod and holds up his glass, sharing a grateful glance with Rick.

"Booyah!" I hear Daryl shout from the opposite end. Everyone repeats his call.

"So when are you gonna tell us what happened here, Doc."

Shane's voice brings us grudgingly back to reality. I steal a glance of hate with the dark-haired man, but his eyes are still set on the table. "All the other doctors," he pauses. "That were supposed to be figuring out what happened. Where are they?"

Happy hour is officially over.

We all share annoyed glares, and even Carol bites her lip. Rick starts to sit down. "We're celebrating, Shane," he scolds. "Don't need to do this now."

"Whoa, wait a second now, this is why we're here, ain't it?" he holds up his hand. His eyes remain vacant. "This was your move, Rick. Supposed to find answers." He pauses again and chuckles. "Instead we find one man. Instead we find him."

I can't help but raise my eyebrows and glare. How could he even talk like this? This "one man" saved our lives. It's all I can do not to speak out, but I know it's not my place. I was grateful to be apart of this survival group, the last thing I want to do is make the right-hand man hate me.

"Well when things got bad, a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted," Jenner speaks to no one in particular.

"Every last one?" Shane seems annoyingly satisfied with his rude mood-take-down.

"No. Many couldn't face walking out the door. They… opted out."

This seems to complete ruining everyone's buzz. Jacqui takes a deep drink of her wine, and Rick glares at Shane. I glance down at the little girl sitting next to me. Her expression is vacuous. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

"That was a bad time," Jenner concludes.

"You didn't leave," Andrea notes. "Why?"

"I continued working. Hoping to do some good."

"Dude, you are _such_ a buzz-kill, man," Glenn moans. Shane shrugs.

It's quiet. No one speaks. I grab my glass tentatively and finish the drink with one last gulp. I go to reach for the bottle, but I feel a hand stop me. I look at my prosecutor and see Lori. "I think that's enough."

"I only had one glass," I tell her, narrowing my eyes.

"I just don't want you to set a bad example for the kids..." She looks at my sister.

"Oh it's okay," Caroline leaps to my defense. "I learned a long time ago not to copy anything Aubrey does."

"Oh, well that's just great," Lori rolls her eyes, but there's a hint of a smile on her lips.

"What are you talking about?" I look at Caroline. "When have I ever set a bad example?"

She thinks for a moment. "Well there was that time you snuck out to go to that party." This receives a glare from Lori. "And when you got those detentions for skipping class. And that other time when you snuck out when you were grounded. And there was also that time when you stole mom's car to go to the mall—"

"Okay!" I stop her and feel my cheeks grow red. "I think you've proved your point…" I hear snickering from around the table, but I can't help but feel the puncture of a hard glare from Mama Bear Lori from across the table.

"Looks like we got ourselves a real badass ov'r here," Daryl leans against the table and stares me down. He's drunk.

"Got that right. You don't wanna mess with me," I puff out my chest and narrow my eyes at him playfully. He rolls his eyes and takes another swig of his bottle.

The table laughs again, and I feel like the tension Shane and Andrea brought upon us is somewhat fading. They might have their reasons for depression, but this was not just another night of barely getting by… we were finally safe. And that calls for a celebration, now-a-days.

After a few more comical marks from various members of the table, and several sly mouthfuls of wine I'd snuck past Lori, Jenner decides to take us to where we'll be staying. We all stand, and I automatically begin to feel the effects of the alcohol spreading through my body. I sway slightly and have to shake my head to steady myself. I feel a hand grip my arm and look up to see Glenn smiling. "You okay?" his words are slurred and I laugh.

"Fine," I drag out, before stepping into place at the back of the group with Glenn at my side.

"Most of the faculty is still powered down," Jenner starts as he leads us down a hallway. The lights begin to flicker on. "Including housing, so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are some spare cots in the supply closets so feel free to use those if you wish."

I almost trip on my own feet.

"There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy." He stops and points down at Sophia, Carl, and Caroline who have taken lead of the group. "Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. And that applies to you all too." Everyone nods in understanding.

I wonder for a moment why the walls are spinning around me.

"If you shower, go easy on the hot water."

Whoa. Back up. Hot water? You don't have to be completely sober to know what that means. I almost jump for joy, but it seems that Glenn's beat me to it.

"Hot water?" he speaks from beside me. Everyone pauses and glances at each other.

"That's what the man said," T-Dog grins and we all let out a laugh of relief and happiness.

We begin to break apart at this point. Some people open the doors to their rooms and others follow Jenner. I stay behind and scan the hallway, a smile plastered on my face.

"Ya just gonna stand there like a dumbass?"

I immediately connect the abusive tone to Daryl.

I ignore his comment and take a deep breath. I finally meet his gaze and find him leaning against an open door to a room, a bottle of wine still gripped firmly in his hand. I smirk and make my way towards him. "I just can't wait to take a shower."

"Ya need it," he takes a swig. I roll my eyes and grab the bottle from him when he's finished with his guzzle. "Hey—" he protests, but I take the biggest mouthful I can manage and hand the bottle back to him, struggling to get all the liquid down.

"Though' Lori said ya had enough," he smirks and puts the bottle back up to his lips for a quick sip.

I press a finger up to his lips. "What she doesn't know won't hurt her…" I turn into a fit of giggles. He moves from his spot on the door frame and walks into the room. I follow.

"This place is like fucking Heaven," I fall, back-first onto the couch with a thud and stare up at the ceiling which also seems to be moving slightly. I blink a few times. I get a grunt in reply. I continued to lie still for a few moments, but the blood flowing through my veins seems utterly restless, so I give up and sit up, looking around for my redneck abuser.

"Ya gotta go." He comes back into view and I realize his shirts off.

"Why?"

I look at the ripples in his arm and stomach muscles. He's toned, and there are several scars that run along his bare skin. I can feel my heartbeat quicken and my eyebrows raise. _Why leave when I can just sit here and stare at your body for a while_… is what I mean to say.

"Because I ain't gonna spend my show'r listenin' to ya ramble on 'bout shit," he spits.

"Ohhhh. I get it," I nod and watch him walk over to his drink and take another swill. "You're an angry drunk."

He looks at me and rolls his eyes. "Where's tha' goddamn chink when ya need 'em," he growls.

"Look, you're just proving my point…" I giggle. He grabs my arm and pulls me to the door.

"See you later," I smile at him.

He rolls his eyes again, but before he slams the door in my face, I can clearly see that his lips are pulled into a small smile.

xx

The shower is exactly what I needed. I guess I hadn't truly realized how dirty I really was. Back at the camp, there was no where to shower. A small bucket that you could fill with dirty water was the least you could get. Strange, how the soldiers always appeared so clean.

As I run my fingers through my now smooth and untangled hair, I think back to my conversation with Glenn. Well, what little of the conversation we'd had. It was cut short, by the appearance of food. He told me we'd talk about it later, but with the state of both our minds, I knew it wouldn't occur. I told myself we'd talk tomorrow, but my mind kept pulling me in other directions. To the feast, to the wine, to Daryl's body… Mmm. Daryl's body. I wasn't sure if my next smile was a result of the warm water running down my back, or the thought of seeing the surprising hot redneck basically undress right in front of me.

After finishing scrubbing what was left of the inch of dirt collected over the top of my skin, I shut the water off. My body immediately chills, but I wrap a towel around me, and for once, I feel okay.

My mind flashes to Reese. Probably dirty. Possibly dead.

I shake my head and push him from my mind.

I walk out into the room that I'm sharing with Caroline and find she's still not here. Probably still with Lori, Carl, Sophia, and Carol. At least I think they're who I saw her with last… I shake my head to clear my thoughts and walk over to my bag. Everything I own is dirty. I sigh and sit down on my bed. That's when I hear a knock at the door. I'm not sure if it's just my imagination, before the door creaks open, and a familiar blonde head of hair pokes her head through the small opening.

"Aubrey? Can I come in?" her voice is distressed.

"Course," I reply, adjusting my towel to make sure nothing is displayed that shouldn't be.

She walks through the door and I immediately see something's wrong. Her hair is still wet, and it hangs loosely to her shoulders. Her eyes are narrowed in anguish and in her hands are a set of clothes. She bites her lip and looks at the couch.

"You can sit," I tell her.

"Thanks." Andrea runs a shaky hand through her hair and takes a seat. "I brought you these," she hands over a t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and underwear.

"Oh wow, thank you," I accept them gratefully.

"You didn't get to do laundry back at our old camp, so I figured you didn't have any clean clothes," her eyes are still full of emotion.

"That's not why you're here, though." I realize the walls are no longer spinning. Guess I lost my buzz. I mentally add 'visit Daryl's hidden stash of bottles' to my to-do list for later.

"No, it's not," she admits, her eyes filling with water.

"Want to talk about it?" I ask her.

"You can get dressed."

I nod and stand up, walking behind the couch and see she's completely turned around, I'd guess making sure I'd know she wasn't peeking. I quickly unwrap the towel and put on my old bra, since Andrea hadn't brought me a clean one. Then, I pull on the t-shirt. Not one for putting on jeans right after a hot shower, I pull on the underwear, but since the shirt is rather large on my almost anorexic frame, it covers anything that needs to be covered, and I walk back over to the couch and sit down.

"Caroline is great," Andrea says, staring down at the ground. "She's smart. And brave."

"She is." I smile. "She's the only reason I keep going."

This hits a cord with her. She tenses and shuts her eyes, a tear trickling down her cheek. _Shit._

"I'm sorry," I start, placing my hand on hers.

"Her name was Amy," she looks up at me, her bright blue eyes overwhelmed with sadness. "She was your age. You both would've gotten along great." She smiles.

"I'm sure she was wonderful."

"A walker got her."

I swallow. The sympathy I feel for the girl in front of me is beyond measurable. A walker getting Caroline is my biggest fear. I would never want her to go through with that. "I'm so sorry."

"I was too late. Too late. I should've saved her. I promised I'd never let anything hurt her. I should've been there—"

"You can't blame yourself," I cut her off. "I don't know what happened, but you cannot _ever_ blame yourself. I know it's hard, but things happen, and you can't control or stop them."

"That's easy for you to say. You still have your sister." Her eyes are cold and hard. I bite my lip.

"Sorry, you're right." I look down. I can't imagine how I'd feel if Caroline died. Destroyed. Ruined. Broken beyond repair.

Her eyes soften and she shakes her head. "No, I'm sorry. You're just trying to help. I just don't know what to do anymore."

"You just have to be happy," I meet her eyes and she begins to protest but I stop her. "It's what Amy would want. I don't know her, but I do know that she loved you. And she would want you to be happy, and survive this."

She considers this and slowly nods her head. "I guess you're right."

I smile back. "I usually am." She returns the gesture.

"Thank you, Aubrey. It means a lot." She starts to stand. "I think I'll go get some sleep. Good night." She begins to walk to the door but stops and turns. "Thank you. Again."

"Anytime," I smile and watch her walk out the door.

I wait for a while. Waiting to see if Caroline was going to come to bed. If so, she'd want me to tuck her in. She usually can't sleep unless that's done. After a while of trying to tame my drying hair though, I decide to pull it back into a braid. Then, stare at myself in the mirror.

Damn. What I'd do for a pair of tweezers, a razor, and my moisturizers. My dark brown hair has been lightened slightly by all the time I've spent in the sun, and my skin seems as if it'll be forever sun-kissed, not that I mind. I pull myself from my reflection and walk out the room. Maybe Caroline decided to stay with Carol or Lori. I walk over to where Daryl's room is and quickly look around before knocking on the door slightly. After a few moments of muted scuffling from his room, he opens the door.

"Whut."

He has another cut off shirt on, but just a pair of boxers instead of his regular jeans. I remember I forgot to put on pants. Good thing the shirt covers mostly everything. Mostly.

"Can I come in?" I ask.

He moves out of the way on the door and I step inside. He's already claimed it as his room, I note. There's a few empty smaller bottles on the floor. Jeez, I wonder how he's not like passed out. Or dead.

"Taking it easy on the liquor tonight, I see."

"Fuck you."

"Maybe later." I smirk at him and walk over to a half-filled bottle and take a large drink from it. I shiver as the liquid makes it's way down my throat. "I've never been a big wine fan."

"Coulda fooled me."

"Funny. I guess opinions change after drinking nothing but water for weeks."

"I hear tha'." He makes his way over to me and grabs the bottle from my hand. I turn around and walk over to the couch, plopping myself down on the soft fabric.

"Are you aware that no one here is particularly fond of you?" I ask him, knowing that if I were completely sober the words would have never come out of my mouth. Instead of getting angry, he shrugs it off.

"Don't give a fuck."

"Why?"

"Why whut."

"Why don't you care?"

"Why should I? They dun' mean shit to me."

"They're nice."

"Doesn't mean I gotta care 'bout 'em."

"Doesn't mean you have to hate them."

"I dun' hate 'em. Just dun' care whut they think o' me."

"Oh." I consider this for a moment. "Do you care what I think of you?"

"Nah."

"So you aren't like, emotionally in touch with your feelings?" I snicker when I see his face curl up in disgust.

"I ain't no fuckin' pussy," he growls.

"Oh, alright Macho Man. Didn't realize it was such a touchy subject."

He growls under his breath. I laugh.

"Whut?"

"Nothing."

He grunts, tossing yet another empty bottle onto the floor. He makes his way over to the door and opens it, sticks his head out, and then walks back in the room, stumbling slightly.

"Is anyone awake?" I ask him as he sits down on a matching chair angled towards the couch.

"Dun' think so."

"Oh okay." I stifle another yawn.

"Shouldn' you be sleeping." It's not a question.

"Can't."

"Why not?"

I smile at him. "I thought you didn't care about what I think."

He grunts again. "Never said I did."

"Okay, whatever you say."

We hear a low knock on the door and I automatically stiffen my back before I realize there's nothing to be afraid of here. I start to stand but Daryl beats me to it, and works his way towards the door clumsily and opens it a smidge.

"'s Aubrey there?" I hear Glenn slur. I roll my eyes.

"Nope." Daryl starts to shut the door in the Korean boy's face, but he sticks his arm through at the last minute and pushes himself inside.

"There you are!" he exclaims, throwing his arms into the air. "I've been looking everywhere!"

"Here I am," I try not to laugh at his condition. _Someone_ can't handle his liquor…

"Do you know where my room is?" his face is replaced by a genuine concern. I laugh again. "I'm lucky I found you guys. I woke up almost everyone getting here!"

"Alright, Mr. Alcohol. Let's get you to bed."

I grab his hand and lead him to the door. He walks outside in the hallway and steadies himself against the wall, murmuring about how he used to think brown cows produced chocolate milk. _Oh boy_.

"Guess I'll see you tomorrow then," I smile at Daryl.

"Guess so."

"Night, Macho Man," I smirk at him, and even though I can tell he's trying to keep a straight face, he smirks back.

"Night Aubs."

I'm not sure what makes my heartbeat faster: the fact that Glenn tries to cop a feel on me twice on the way back to his room, or the fact that Daryl used the same nickname on me Reese used back in high school. I shake my head, and after dropping off my very drunk horny friend, I make my way back to my room and lie in complete darkness on the couch. I can barely make out the words that come next, but they're definitely there. His voice is just above a whisper, and they flow smoothly in my brain.

"_Goodnight Aubs."_

I stare at the ceiling for a moment, but I know I've heard right. So I allow the sleep to take over me, and with my last conscious thought, I smile into the black.

"Goodnight Reese."

**A/N: **Hey guys! Thank you so much for all the feedback, first of all! And secondly, sorry this took longer to put out… I've been pretty busy with school work and stuff, and haven't been able to write any. So anyway, sorry if this chapter kind of sucks, I promise it'll get real exciting! I've got big plans coming up. ;D

So I hope you liked it, and please, please review! It would make my day :D

Oh, and for anyone who cares: I was LITERALLY in the same room with Kevin Bacon last night. We made eye-contact. It was BEAUTIFUL. Hahaha thanks for reading! 

Oh, oh! And if you have the time, and you're into good music, you should definitely check out The Parlor Mob! I actually named my story after one of their songs, Practice In Patience. So, check 'em out!

-Maddie


	5. Darling Everything's On Fire

_Don't you dare look out your window, darling everything's on fire._

I feel strangely cold the next morning I wake up. I'm on the couch I'd only guessed I'd fallen asleep on, but I have just a hazy recollection of how I got there. In fact, as I struggle to sit up, I realize I don't remember much at all from the night before. My head begins to slowly throb in pain, and then it hits me.

Damn hangovers.

I groan and stand up, slightly startled by my lack of pants. I walk around the room and find a pair on jeans on the bed. That, I remember. Andrea gave me those, along with the shirt and underwear. I pull the jeans on and then tousle my hair in the mirror until it's somewhat decent, and then make my way out the door and towards the sound of voices coming from the cafeteria.

The smells get to me first. Eggs. I sniff more thoroughly and freeze. _Bacon?_ My hangover recedes slightly and my feet pick up to the smell of that Godly substance. I walk into view and see almost everyone at the table and T-Dog scraping eggs onto plates. I trudge over to the group and place a hand on Caroline's shoulder.

"Finally," the little girl says, looking up at me whilst putting a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

"Best night of sleep I've had in a long time," I smile and try to blink away the throbbing that's come back into my brain.

"Head hurt?" T-Dog asks, a playful smirk on his face.

Lori glances at me and I force a smile. "No hangovers here," I lie, trying to hide the horrible pain.

"Please," Lori rolls her eyes but smiles and scoots her chair over to allow me to pull one up for myself. I sit down next to her and T-Dog places a plate in front of me and spoons some eggs and two pieces of bacon onto it. I dig in and slowly look around the table.

"Where's Shane? And Rick? And Daryl?" I ask, noticing the missing people.

"Probably still sleeping. Where I should be," Glenn grumbles. It's then that I notice the poor Korean boy. He's hunched over in his chair, fingers lightly massages his temples and letting out moans every-so-often. Poor kid. He seems the worst of us all.

"Rough night?" I ask him, a smirk playing on my lips.

I get a grunt in reply, and Jacqui appears from behind and begins rubbing his shoulders. T-Dog places more eggs on his plate. "Protein helps the hangover."

It's then that Rick walks into the room. His walk is slower, so we all know just how he spent his night. He walks up to Lori and before he can get a word out, Carl smiles at his dad. "Are you hung-over? Mom said you'd be."

Lori and the table exchange a chuckle and Rick smiles and squeezes his wife's shoulder before sitting down at the end of the table. "Mom is right."

"Mom has that annoying habit," Lori smiles.

"Where'd this come from?" Rick asks, holding up a bottle of pills.

"Jenner," Lori replies. "He thought we could use it; some of us, at least," she glances over at Glenn.

"Could you help me please?" Rick hands the bottle over to Lori and she begins to open it. "Thank you," Rick says.

Glenn lets out another moan. "Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again," he mumbles.

"Hey," we all look up to see Shane waltzing into the room, heading straight for the coffee machine.

"Hey," Rick replies. "Feel as bad as I do?"

"Worse."

I can't help but notice Lori staring down at her plate from next to me, breaking apart the bacon into small pieces, but never putting anything in her mouth. I shrug and stand up to get some coffee myself. Shane head-nods at me, and it seems that T-Dog and I both notice at the same time he has some new markings on his neck.

"What happened?" I ask, observing the three scratch marks. "Freddy Krueger come into your nightmare?"

He gives me a look and goes to sit down. "Must've done it in my sleep."

"Never seen you do that before," Rick notes, eyeing him curiously.

"Me neither." He looks up and stares direction across the table. At Lori. "Not like me at all."

I push the thoughts flowing into my mind aside and try not to focus on the peculiar way this is all playing out. Lori, playing with her food and looking guilty, Shane, basically accusing Lori with his eyes… My head hurt too much already. I would think more about it when it didn't feel like there was a man banging drums against my brain.

I sit back down just as Jenner walks into the room, and Daryl almost right after. I smile at his and he nods back and he makes his way around the table.

"Mornin'," Jenenr greets.

"Hey, Doc," Shane says and we all follow his lead.

"Doctor," Dale starts. "I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing—"

"But you will anyway," Jenner interrupts, nodding his head in understanding.

"We didn't come here for the eggs," Andrea says.

Jenner doesn't speak, just fills a cup with coffee to the very brim and almost chugs it down. Looks like he's had a rough night too. "Finish eating and I'll show you what you want," he tells us.

We nod.

"Where were you last night?" I hear Caroline ask from beside me. Now everyone's focusing their attention on me. Wonderful.

"I was in our room. I think the question is where were you?"

"I was with Carol and Sophia but they dropped me off at our room and you weren't there so they said I could sleep with them," she counters, stiffening her chin.

"I was probably in the bathroom or something."

"Nuh-uh. Checked there too."

I narrow my eyes at the little girl and she raises her eyebrows. I do remember going into Daryl's room, and I remember Glenn coming in too. But if I tell them I was with Daryl, they might think something. The last thing I want is for a rumor to spread around our perfect little group. Like the one building up in my head about Shane and Lori.

I shrug at Caroline and stuff the last bite of bacon into my mouth. "You probably just missed me."

"Whatever you say," she rolls her eyes and glances at the end of the table where Daryl sits. He's looking down, a new bottle of alcohol held firmly in hand. I roll my eyes.

"I do remember helping Glenn over here get back to his room," I smile at him who squints his eyes at me.

"Oh yeah, he came pounding on my door last night asking all around for you," T-Dog laughs.

"Did the same to us," Lori says. Rick chuckles too.

""Did I really?" Glenn asks, his mouth open in embarrassment.

We all nod and he bangs his head rather hard down on the table. "Owwww."

xx

After breakfast Jenner adheres to his promise and brings us into the huge room where we were first introduced to Vi. He turns on the large screen and we all gather around, watching as the monitor does exactly what is asked of it.

"Give me playback of TS-19," Jenner orders.

Vi complies and the screen is filled with a digital viewing of a human head.

"Few people have had the chance to see this. Very few," Jenner tells us.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asks, completely wide-eyed at the picture.

"An extraordinary one," Jenner replies. "Not that it matters in the end."

I find myself in between Daryl and Carol. The feeling in my chest that were about to see something we don't want to see is building further and further up in my chest.

"Take us in for E.I.V.," Jenner says.

"Enhanced internal view," Vi recites, bringing us further into the person's brain.

Now we can clearly see any and all activity throughout the brain. There are small spark-like movements appearing every-so-often inside. It's moments like these when I wished I paid more attention in biology. Looking around at everyone's perplexed expressions, I can tell I'm not the only one.

"What are those lights?" Shane asks from behind me.

"It's a person's life—Experiences, memories… It's everything." He looks up at the screen. "Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you." He points at me. "The thing that makes you unique. And human."

"You gonna make sense ever?" Daryl asks snidely from beside me.

Jenner continues on explain all about impulses and a lot of terms that I can't even understand. About how everything in our brain makes us exactly who we are. Then he tells us that the image we are seeing is a real human being. A test subject. Someone who'd been bitten.

"They volunteered," he explains. "To have us record the process."

I exchange a look with Andrea from across the room. Her eyes are full of an emotion I can't quite comprehend.

"Vi, scan forward to the first event."

"Scanning to the first event."

The sight of this new image is truly scary. This darkness begins traveling up the brain from the bottom. And then, just like that, there are no more long vivid lights wrinkling through the brain. Instead they have been replaced by a dark red and then fades completely to black., and the body is still. There's no more activity in it. No more life. Dead. I look away.

"What is that?" Glenn asks, as confused as everyone else in the room.

"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands shut down, the brain hemorrhages, and then, the major organs. Then, death." He pauses and looks down towards the ground, his face expressionless. "Everything you ever were or will be… Gone."

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia's small voice echoes strangely through the room.

"Yes," Carol answers, grabbing her daughter's hand.

It seems that everyone in the room is taking this harshly. I steal a glance with Jacqui and see a tear fall from her eye. Even Shane looks far off in the distance, not bothering to comment on what the doctor has just told us. Caroline sneaks her way over to my side and grabs my hand. I squeeze it and force back my own tears. And then I see Andrea. She takes a deep breath and I know she's trying to hold back her emotions as well.

"She lost someone," Lori says when Jenner turns to look at the agonizing blonde woman. "Two days ago. Her sister."

Jenner leans in to Andrea. "I lost somebody too, I know how devastating it is." When she doesn't reply, he turns back to the large screen. "Scan to the second event."

The dark red coloring returns to the brain, but only towards the bottom. There are more bolts of energy flowing throughout the brain, but they are red. The head starts to move again.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori asks.

"No, just the brain stem," Jenner replies. "Basically it gets them up and moving."

"But they're not alive." Rick speaks, but it's not so much a question.

"You tell me." Jenner motions at the infected brain.

"It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark," Rick concludes.

"Dark. Lifeless. Dead."

The words pulsate through my own brain and I take a deep breath. I see Daryl look at me out the corner of his eye and I hope he doesn't see the break in my composure. But mostly, I hope Caroline doesn't see the break in my composure.

"The _you_ part. It doesn't come back."

Then, before anyone can react, an object tunnels quickly through the patients head. I know immediately what this object is. A bullet. A shot to the head. I shake my head and squeeze Caroline's hand.

"Oh God. What was that?" Carol asks.

"He shot his patient in the head." Andrea's voice shows little emotion. "Didn't you?"

"Vi power down the main screen and workstations," Jenner commands.

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea accuses, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal."

"Or that wrath of God," Jacqui pipes up.

"There is that," Jenner says, only as if to please her.

"But there are people who know something right?" I say, my voice surprisingly loud. All eyes turn towards me. I remember hearing some of the guards talking about cures or vaccines. "I mean, there have to be other people had an idea?"

"There may be some," he looks directly at me. It's all I can do to look him in the eye. "People like me."  
>"But you don't know for sure," I interrupt. "Can't you communicate with them? There has to be some way for you to know."<p>

"Everything went down," Jenner explains, keeping his tone neutral. Communications, directives, all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month."

Just about as long as Marks' death camp had been.

"So it's not just here? There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing?" Andrea's voice is borderline desperate now. I don't blame her. "That's what you're really saying, right?"

Jenner doesn't reply, and breaks eye contact with me, bowing his head down. We all know what this means. "Jesus," Jacqui breathes.

"Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk again," Daryl rubs his face and leans against the computer.

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you, and I hate to ask one more question, but," Dale pauses and motions towards a timer-looking thing on the wall. "That clock, it's counting down. What happens when it reaches zero?"

It's the first time I realize this. I've noticed the clock before, but I never thought anything of it. Something tells me that anything running out of fuel is a bad sign. I feel my heartbeat quicken. Rick doesn't even try to hide his panic.

"And then?" he urges, but when he gets no reply, he looks up at the ceiling. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"

"When the power runs out," the technical voice begins, "facility-wide decontamination will occur."

Fuck. 

xx

"I don't even understand." Glenn shakes his head and buries his face in his lap on the couch. I sit on a chair across from him, watching Caroline cling to a pillow on the opposite side of him.

"Decontamination? Why? This doesn't make any sense. We're alive, and healthy…" Carol trails off and strokes Sophia's hair who sits atop her lap.

I wish I could tell them something, but I'm as far in this never-ending tunnel of darkness as they are. I have no idea what Jenner or Vi means by decontamination. What, are they going to spray us down with water? Force us to wash our backs with soap? I clench my fist, and my jaw. This place was supposed to _save _us and now I don't even know what'll happen when the clock hits zero.

I find myself completely restless, so I stand and ask Carol to watch Sophia and I strode out the door and into the hallway. I go to find Jenner but I'm stopped when one of the doors open on my journey to find him.

"Where are ya goin'?" he asks, taking a drink from the bottle he holds in his hand.

"To find Jenner," I start to walk, but he blocks my path.

"He's not out there," he says. "Already look'd."

"Where is he?"

"Dunno."

I purse my lips and frown. Daryl puts the bottle up to his lips once again and I suddenly want to take the alcohol and pour it down my throat. No emotions. No thoughts. Nothing. Just a shrill happiness that would at least get me through the rest of the day.

"C'mon," Daryl says and holds the door open.

"What a gentlemen," I flush, as I walk through the door. "I should probably get back to Caroline—"

And then it happens. Before I can even finish my statement, he presses me against the wall. I can't see any emotion in his eyes, but mostly because they close so quickly, and in one moment, his lips are pressed fiercely into my own.

At first, I don't know how to react. I just met this guy, what, three days ago? And we hadn't really hit it off… This wasn't exactly a 'love-at-first-sight fairytale. But, the other side of my brain argues. We could die. Right when that clock hits 00:00. Right when decontamination occurs. It could be over. The end. So a few seconds after his mouth connects to mine, I decide, fuck it, and match his heated pace.

With one hand placed softly around his neck, and the other entangled in what little hair he sprouts, I shudder when he moves his mouth down to my neck. Both hands are wrapped around my waist, pulling my hips into him. The strong scent of liquor lingers on my lips, but it alerts my tired senses, and I can't help but let out a low moan as his one hand pulls my leg up around him, allowing full on full contact.

I feel him smile against my skin and his lips travel back up to my lips, and I pull his hair faintly, using my other hand to scratch rather roughly down his arm. This time, he lets out a grunt of pleasure and brings me even closer to him, if it's even possible. He continues to press me harshly against the wall and his hand travels to the top of my jeans, slowly working their way under my shirt. This time, when his lips make their way down to my collarbone, he sucks intensely, and I buck my hips into him. He lets out another satisfied growl. That's gonna leave a mark.

Suddenly, almost as soon as I'm about to just take off my clothes and throw myself at him, his head snaps up and his cocks his head to the side, his eyes searching around the room for something seemingly invisible.

I let out a breath that I realize I've been holding since he's stopped and try to follow his gaze. "Did you hear—"

"Shu' up," he presses a finger up to my lips and then steps back, walking over to the center of the room.

"If I knew you were going to go all _Ghostbusters _on me, I would've—"

"Tha air shut off," he grunts, his eyebrows furrowing.

I listen closely and do notice a lack of a hum coming from the air conditioner. I silently curse the bad timing and lean back against the wall again. "What does that mean?"

"Dunno." He grabs the half-empty bottle off the table he must've set down before he brutally attacked me, and opens the door to the hallway. He leans halfway out and I can hear several concerned voices voicing our questions.

"Why's everythin' turned off?" Daryl asks as he hangs out the doorway. I walk up next to him and see Jenner swipe the bottle right out of his hand as he walks by. "Hey," Daryl mutters, before glancing once towards me and then striding out the door.

I stand, shell-shocked for a moment. Did that really just happen? I suddenly feel like the past like ten minutes never even occurred. Or was it only five minutes? I shake my head. Nothing feels real anymore.

I see Caroline and Sophia walk past the door, followed by Lori and Carl and Carol, of course, her hand in her daughter's. Finally, Andrea trails behind and I walk out behind her. I bite my lip when she does a completely double take at my appearance.

"And what have you been doing?" she whispers, glaring at my most likely disheveled hair. I smooth it out and clear my throat.

"I was just helping, uh Glenn, and I had to crawl under the uh—"

"Jesus Christ, Aubrey. Daryl? Really?" she shakes her head and then looks towards me again. "You should probably cover your neck."

I slap a hand up to the throbbing reminder placed neatly in the open on my neck. My shirt isn't fit to cover that part of my neck, and I have no time to go back and get my jacket. I weigh my options, until Andrea slows me down and pulls a chuck of hair from behind my head and my adjusts it to perfectly cover my black and blue marking.

"Thanks," I mutter, feeling a blush appear on my cheeks and she nods. We jog to catch up to the group and when we do, I can see there's a problem. A big problem.

"Wha' you mean it's shuttin' itself down? How can a buildin' do anythin'?" Daryl demands, his voice rough.

"You'd be surprised," Jenner mutters as he makes his way into the big room again. At the same time, Rick, Glenn, Shane, and T-Dog came running, in and Lori lets out a frantic yelp for her husband. Panic starts to rise. I quicken my pace and grab Caroline's hand as we make our way down the stairs and into the main room. Beads of sweat travel slowly down Rick's forehead and he meets Jenner in the center of the room.

"Jenner, what's happening?" Rick asks forcefully.

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power," Jenner replies in a flat tone. "It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. Supposed to start at the halfway point. Right on schedule," he remarks as he motions towards the counting-down-to-doom clock, before taking a swig of Daryl's bottle.

We all exchange glances of concern. Nobody seems to know what to say. Glenn and I lock eyes, and I bite my lip to keep from trembling. Jenner sighs and hands out the bottle to Daryl, who grabs it vehemently. "It was the French." He looks to Andrea.

"What?" she asks.

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide, they held on to the very last second. They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened?" Jacqui asks.

"Same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice." He begins to turn away but then looks back, his eyes full of anger and regret. "The world runs on fossil fuels. I mean, how _stupid_ is that?"

"Let me tell you—" Shane starts at the doctor, but Rick grabs his soldier.

"To Hell with it, Shane, I don't even care," he says. "Everybody grab your stuff. We're getting out of here _now_!" I've never heard his voice so angry and powerful before. I felt Caroline flinch beside me.

We all nod at his urgent tone and turn towards our rooms. Then, alarms begin blaring. We stop in our tracks and a loud booming voice I now think I hate comes through the loud speak. "Thirty minutes to decontamination."

"Doc, what's goin' on here?" Daryl asks.

"Everybody, y'all heard Rick. Everybody, go get your stuff, and let's go! Now!" Shane declares.

We all turn to leave again when steel doors shoot up suddenly, blocking our paths. I feel Caroline's hand release slightly and when I look down, her eyes are wide. Fear. It's all I see in her small features.

I kneel in front of her and take her shoulders, looking her in the eye. "It's okay, Sweetie. We'll be okay." I pull her into a hug and then hear Glenn shout from a little ways away from me.

"Did you just lock us in?" his voice is desperate. "He just locked us in!"

I don't dare open my eyes. Because like the shaking girl in my arms, I realize I'm scared too. No, more than that. I'm terrified. Because everything I've worked so hard to live for is crumbling down at my feet. I worked too hard to escape Marks to be killed by the CDC. I worked too hard to keep Caroline alive, to die here barely keeping my own cool with no hope or pride whatsoever.

"You son of a bitch!" I recognize Daryl's voice as his footsteps barrel towards Jenner's area. I open my eyes to complete hysteria and walk with Caroline towards where Daryl's trying, without much success, to assault Jenner. Caroline shuffles from my side to Carol and Sophie's who are safely out of reach of any of the struggling men.

"No, stop, no!" I hear Shane yell towards Daryl and pull him away from Jenner.

I see Daryl being completely _held_ by T-Dog and Shane, and his arm reaches back as if he's going to throw his bottle of whiskey straight at the doctor's head. I make my way over to them and grab Daryl's arm once he's put on the ground. The sleeveless redneck looks at me for a moment but then turns back to Jenner, the veins in his neck pulsating with anger.

"Hey Jenner, open that door now," Rick orders.

"There's no point, everything topside is locked down. The computers control it, I don't." Rick shakes his head in confusion and the doctor continues. "I told you, once that front door closes, they stay closed, didn't I tell you that."

Once everything has somewhat calmed down from violence, Caroline stalks her way over to me once again and wraps her arm around my leg, while I keep my hand placed on Daryl. I breathe heavily. This is it. It's over.

"It's better this way," Jenner mumbles.

"What is?" Rick snaps. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?"

Jenner turns back towards his keyboard and Rick narrows his eyebrows in frustration. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes!" Rick yells, as Shane walks behind the doctor and kicks the chair.

"You know what this place is?" Jenner screams, in a voice I've never heard before. "We protected the public from very _nasty_ stuff!" he turns towards the rest of the group. "Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!"

Caroline's nails dig into my skin and she stares towards the ground, her hair covering her eyes. I can't tell that she's crying, but I faint sniffle coming from her direction makes it seem so.

"In the event of a catastrophic power failure, in a terrorist attack, for example, H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organism from getting out."

"H.I.T.s?" Rick asks.

"Vi. Define." Jenner's voice is back to it's collected tone.

"H.I.T.s- high-impulse thermo baric fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen at between 5,000 degrees and 6,000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."

And that's when it hits us. This place is going to go up in flames. It's like one big giant bomb just waiting to explode. Rick pulls Lori into a hug. Carol leans into her daughter, trying to calm her fears. I stroke Caroline's hair and rub her back as her face digs into my jeans.

"It sets the air on fire," Jenner whispers just loud enough for us all to hear. "No pain. An end to sorrow, grief. Regret. Everything."

Carol is sobbing now, along with Sophia and then hold onto each other. I squeeze Daryl's arm and then let go, turning my full attention to my sister, who's also breaking down.

Nobody speaks a word. Caroline's tears are soaking through the shoulder of my t-shirt and I press my mouth against her shoulder to keep from letting out a cry of my own. I have to remain strong. For her sake. Just like I remained strong all my life for her. "I miss mommy," she whispers into my ear through choked sobs.

My eyes open and I stare blankly at the ground. Do I want mom? Do I want my dad? The people who abandoned Caroline and I at an early age, too obsessed with their careers to handle two young girls. The people who sat idly by as Caroline and I made our way through school, trudging a mile to the school bus in the mornings in freezing temperatures or pouring rain? The people who'd barely utter a word during one of our "family" dinners, and instead took to typing away on their Blackberry's, not proud when Caroline received an A on her spelling test or me, winning my first horse show with Dexter?

"I miss mom too," I say into Caroline's ear. And I do. Because at this moment, what I want more than anything is for her to come to us and make up for everything she had failed to do as a parent. I want her to make me feel safe. To make me feel like the world isn't on my shoulders. To let me cry into her shoulder and for her to whisper and tell me that everything would be okay. I deserve it. I deserve to feel vulnerable. I deserve to feel like a child for once in my life.

It's only moments later when Rick, Shane, Glenn, T-Dog and Daryl decide to attempt to break down the doors. They use mostly their fists. And their voices. "Open the damn door!" Daryl yells.

Shane hits the doors with an axe, and tosses Daryl another one, and together they hack away at the door, which doesn't really affect it at all.

The rest of us sit idly by, the kids still crying, the moms', and me of course, trying to calm them down. Andrea staring blankly ahead. I can hear my heart beating in my ears.

"You should've left well-enough alone it would've been so much easier," Jenner states coolly.

"Easier for who?" Lori spits.

"All of you. You know what's out there. A short, brutal, life and an agonizing death."

I stand up and release myself from Caroline's grasp, who scoots closer to Carol and Sophia, and turn to face the doctor. "Do you know what I've gone through?" I ask him, my voice surprising stable against my rapid heartbeat. He looks up at me, his eyebrows raised.

"I promised my mother that I would keep my sister safe," I tell him. "That I would spend every last moment fighting for her. This isn't a fight. This is giving up. You can't do this. If I go, I want to go down knowing there was nothing else I could do to save her."

He meets my gaze and we stare at each other for a moment. "There is nothing more you can do—"

"There's _always_ something more! You don't know who's out there! Caroline and I have come across several healthy people! Not _all_ hope is lost. Not yet," my voice shakes but I keep my chin high. Rick makes his way over to us and nods his head.

"This infection, it's a horrible thing," Jenner shakes his head. "Your sister," he turns to Andrea. "What was her name?"

"Amy."

"Amy. You _know_ what this does. It's a horrible thing, do you really want this to happen to your wife and son?" he looks to Rick.

"I don't want _this_," Rick growls emphatically at Jenner.

Shane comes over and admits their defeat with the axes. I shut my eyes tight and stalk back over to Caroline.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher—"

"Well, yer head ain't!"

Daryl comes barreling through, axe raised, aimed at Jenner's head. "Whoa!" Rick yells, grabbing the rampant redneck, with Rick, Shane, Dale, T-Dog's help.

"And you do want this," Jenner says. "Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead."

This creates shocked looks from just about everyone in the group. Rick looks down at Lori who's eyes are stretched wide with confusion. "What? You really said that?" Shane asks. "After all your big talk?"

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick says. I don't blame him either. If he told us what he really thought, what we _all_ really thought, we wouldn't of made it this far.

"There is no hope," Jenner retorts. "There never was."

"No, just like Aubrey said. Not all hope is lost," Rick counters, sharing a glance with me. "Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but there is somebody, somewhere!"

"What part of "everything is gone" do you not understand?" Andrea hisses angrily from her position on the ground. I stare in surprise at her.

"I told you," I start again, all eyes directing at me. "There are more people out there."

"Then where are they?" Andrea demands, narrowing her eyes.

"Tell them, Aubrey!" Caroline squeaks from the opposite side of the room. "Tell them about the camp!"

I feel my breath hitch in my throat. Rick cocks his head at me and I feel burning glares from all angles. I don't dare meet anyone's eyes. "Well?" Shane asks. "What camp?"

"I-We," I take a breath and struggle my nerves. "When the infection first broke out, people were starting to colonize. You know, create safe-havens and stuff. Me and Caroline met a Lieutenant from the army that promised a bunch of people security and a good place to stay. So, we followed him down here—"

"So that's where you came from!" Andrea shoots up and glares at me. "Why are we not there? I knew you were lying! You were lying the whole time!"

"I was going to tell you!" I snap back. "These people- they weren't good. The Lieutenant was an abusive man who only wanted power! He didn't care about any of us! We _watched _people die, he shot a woman through the head right in front of her children because she wanted more food for them! We had to get out!" I find I'm completely breathless and still staring at the ground when I finish, my chest pumping up and down, trying not to relive the moments I'd spent back at the camp. I blink and a tear falls down from my eye, and I wipe it away quickly.

"This camp might not have been the best place. But if Marks' was able to gather up people in hope for survival, then there _have _to be others, right?" I finish with some sort of optimism and finally meet Rick's eyes. Instead of being furious, like I'd imagined Shane and Andrea's were, and possibly Daryl's, they were soft and understanding. He'd kept his secret thoughts from us. Why shouldn't I be able to, too?

"See Jenner, there _are _more people out there," he says.

Before anyone can react, a gun is cocked off to the side. I hadn't even noticed Shane's disappearance, but he returns and starts straight for the doctor, the entire group protesting on what he's about to do.

"Open that door, or I'm gonna blow your head off, you hear me?"

"Brother, this is not the way to do this," Rick whispers frantically.

"Shane, you listen to him," Lori orders.

"It's too late," Shane mutters.

"He dies, we all—"

Shane lets out a screeching yell, completely drowning out Rick's reassuring tone and shoots the gun at one of the computers off to the side. I step backwards and see Caroline cover her eyes, squeezing her eyes shut in terror. Rick wrestles the gun from Shane and hits him across the face with it, knocking him down.

"You done now?"

"Yeah, I guess we all are," Shane mutters.

There's a short silence and then Rick turns back to the doctor. "I think you're lying. I think you're lying about no hope. If you didn't believe there was hope, you would've bolted like the rest of them. But you didn't. You stayed. Why."

"It doesn't matter."  
>The clock is ticking, and I find myself drifting away into my own thoughts, only hearing a part of their conversation. Something about how the test subject had been Jenner's wife. How she was the controller, the leader of the studies. She could've helped us. I run a hand through my hair and think about the only person who can possibly bring comfort me at a time like this. Reese.<p>

"I'm so sorry," I mutter. "I'm sorry I failed you again."

Daryl walks back to the steel doors and begins hacking away. Most likely letting off steam and not expecting anything to come from it. I find myself walking towards Rick and Lori and Jenner. They look up as I walk towards them.

"Lieutenant Marks," he says. "I don't blame you for leaving."

My eyes perk up. "You knew him?"

"Knew of him. Once the outbreak occurred, the army and CDC sort of worked hand-in-hand. Heard he was rude. Merciless."

"He would've watched us die," I whisper, glancing towards Caroline.

"But you left."

"Not without struggle. It was the chance I had to take. It was my will to survive that lead me to them," I look up to Lori and Rick. "And it's my will to survive that will keep me going even now."

"Please," Lori adds, her voice frantic.

He considers this for a moment and then his muscles relax and he lets out a sigh.

"I told you. Topside's locked down. I can't open those." He walks over and scans his card, and then types in a code. The doors lift open.

"Come on!" Daryl shouts, dropping his axe and running out the door. We all follow in his lead. I stare down at Jenner gratefully and nod my head before turning and running after them. We all stop when we realize Rick isn't following. Jenner is whispering something into his ear. But then, they pull away from each other, and without a parting goodbye, Rick turns and sprints towards us, only to be stopped once again by a woman's voice.

"No, I'm staying!"

It's Jacqui.

"Are you insane?" T-Dog yells, trying to grab her arm.

"No, I'm completely sane. For the firs time in a long time. I'm not endin' up like Jim and Amy. I'm staying. No point or time to arguing. Just get out!"

We all stare momentarily, but then we turn and jog down the hallway, and out of this nightmare. Caroline is keeping pace beside me. And it's then that I realize Andrea isn't with us either.

"You go on with Carol, I'll be right back."

I turn on heel and sprint back and see Andrea still standing by Jenner, Dale facing her.

"Andrea!" I yell, making my way up to her. "Come on!"

"No, Aubrey. I'm staying."

"Andrea, no," Dale says.

I feel tears welling up in my eyes and can just barely hear Caroline yell my name from the hall. I know I have to go. "Please," I whisper to her.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was so rude to you. But I can't. You need to go. Both of you. Thank you," Andrea's eyes are glued to my own and I close the space between us and pull her into a hug.

"Reconsider. Please."

But she doesn't respond. So with one more longing look at the broken woman, I turn around and make up for lost time by sprinting as fast as I can to catch up to the others, who are just about to leave me and the rest of the stragglers behind. "Come on then," Rick says as I close the space, feeling a tear drift smoothly down my cheek.

"Wait, Dale," I turn back but he's not behind me.

"No time. We need to go," Shane says, not even second-guessing as we turn around. I look one last time but then fall into step beside Glenn who gives me a sympathetic glance.

We reach the top of the bulding, but nothing is opening the doors. It's weird how we're so close to freedom we can see it, yet so far. T-Dog fiddles with some buttons on the side of the building, but they don't work. So the men throw chairs and yell, just like they had just several minutes ago.

After a few moments of that, Carol's eyes brighten and she opens her bag, digging through and shouting for Rick. He walks over and she pulls it out. Our true savior. A grenade.

"I found this in the pocket of your uniform when I washed it back at camp."

Since when do they give Georgia sheriffs' grenades?

Rick takes it hesitantly and then tells us to hit the ground before he sets the grenade off, sprinting back just in time to avoid getting hurt. The glass shatters, and we all move instantly, running as fast as possible out the broken window and out into the field.

We run straight for the vehicles we'd left behind. We receive encouragement from Rick and Shane as they yell for us to keep going. With all my emotions mixing together, I find it somewhat difficult to breathe, but I press on. For Caroline.

We reach the cars and I hear someone shout my name. I turn towards the voice and see Daryl, opening the passenger door on his pickup truck. I shove Caroline inside and he gets into the driver's seat, while Caroline takes the middle and I take shotgun. He puts the key in and tries to start it when I see them.

"No way," I breathe. It's Andrea and Dale. They're racing towards the cars but I know time is almost out. And before I know what's happening, Daryl yells "Git down!", and all I can hear is the sound of an explosion.

It lasts for a few moments that begin to feel like hours, and when it's done, all I can hear is the sound of my heart beating in my ears. We all glance up almost at the same time. Andrea and Dale are safe. They got behind an obstacle just in time. I let out a breath of air. And then I look at the building, or what's left of it.

And as I watch the smoke billow up into the clouds, I shake my head. He really did it, I think.

He set the air on fire.

A/N: So wow! Probably the longest chapter I have _ever_ written. Granted, most of it was part of the episode, with a few additions from me, but either way, I hope you liked it! A lot of things happened in this chapter. Just a shout out to all my readers and reviewers who make me smile each time I post a new chapter. Thank you all sooo much, and I really hope this chapter fulfills your expectations!

I figured this chapter title taken from _Safe & Sound _by Taylor Swift fit perfectly. Great song, too. :)

Please, don't forget to review, and once again, I hope you all like it!

-Maddie.

Oh and I know it's a little late for this, but I completely forgot my disclaimer. So here goes.

I do not under any circumstances own The Walking Dead in any way, shape, or form.

Review! : )


	6. Stairway to Heaven

A/N: I want to apologize ahead of time for the extremely long wait and the mediocre-ness of this chapter. I've just been completely overwhelmed by school and stuff, so please don't give up on me just yet! Just fifteen more days of school and then I'll be free all day every day to focus on my writing. Sorry again!

_Stairway to Heaven_

We've been driving for a long time. I'm not sure where we're going, but I don't really care either.

After the CDC, we nobody said a word, but our order was simple: leave. Drive. Nobody gave a destination, just anywhere far, far away from our false hope. From the place where any sort of faith left in our bodies was laid to rest. We only stopped once, and that was to regroup and try to think of a new place to go. And taking a few moments to mourn Jacqui. When it was time to go, Caroline asked if this time, she could stay with Sophia. I told her yes, but I chose to stay with Daryl. He hadn't said one word to me since we left. I enjoyed the silence. Well. At least while it lasted.

"So we ever gonna talk 'bout wha' happened back there?" he mumbles, as he stares straight out the window. I keep my gaze fixed out the side window and purse my lips.

What does he mean? Our secret make-out session, Jacqui's death, or my admittance of the camp? "What?" my voice cracks from a lack of use.

"Tha camp. The thing ya told Jenner."

"Oh. That."

He glances at me and shrugs his shoulders. "Well?"

"What do you want me to say?" My chest is heavy.

"Well you can star' by explainin' why you didn't tell us."

"I was going to." He doesn't answer right away so I take a deep breath. "I thought the CDC would have more people. I was going to wait until I could put together something to go back and save everyone."

"Save?" his voice rises with curiosity.

"Yes. There are a lot of innocent people back at camp. People like me and Caroline. But they were too weak, or injured, to take a risk like we did."

"Ya made it out alone? Just the two of ya?" his eyebrows furrow together, his eyes intent with a thought I can't make out.

"We had help. My best friend," I trail off and look out the window for a moment. "He helped us get out."

"Why didn' he come?"

"Because he got hurt. When we were attempting. He told us to go. He said if he stayed with us, they'd find us. I tried to stay with him. I tried to help him, but I had to think about Caroline and her safety. Reese means so much to me but—"

"You dun' have to explain everythin'. I woulda dun the same thing. Family first." He nods and grips the steering wheel a little harsher. I guess he's thinking about Merle.

"I have to go back for them. The CDC might've been a bust, but I promised." I bite my lower lip.

He grunts and we slip into a taunt silence. I stare out the windows. The views of broken cars and abandoned high way no longer scares or startles me anymore. I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I wish that Caroline didn't have to grow up in this. I wish I didn't have to go through with this. I'm in my twenties. My _prime_. I'm supposed to be out drinking and making regrettable choices with boys whose names I'll never know. Waking up in strange areas with tattoos and piercings. Well, maybe not that far. But still. I'm not supposed to be driving with a hick in the middle of an apocalypse. A human extinction event, as Jenner called it.

"I need to go back for them." My voice is icy and flat, and for a second I wonder if it's even my own. He side-glances towards me for just a split second and then nods.

"You know where tha' camp is from here?" he asks. I let out a silent breath. He's not objecting. One down, the rest of the group to go.

"Yeah. It's right along the highway. If we don't get off, it's like a straight shot back. Do you know where we are?"

"No idea."

"Well I'll know. I couldn't forget that place."

Our conversation pauses for just a moment and then he clears his throat slightly. "You gonna go by yerself?" he asks.

"If I have to." I press the side of my head against the window and savor the cooled chill that runs down the side of my face.

He snorts.

"What?"

"Ya think yer gonna take on a bunch of loaded weapons?"

"I didn't say it'd be easy. And I didn't say I'd be successful. But I made a promise. And I have to go through with it."

"Dun' be fuckin' stupid. Caroline'll need ya. We'll git a group."

"I don't know if everyone will be too happy about that."

He snorts. "They can shove it up their asses."

I smile. "Thanks."

"Wha' for?"

"For supporting me."

"Eh. Dun' go round tellin' everyone tha'." He growls. But as I study his profile I can just barely see the faint hint of a smile on his face.

I know right?

A _smile_.

xx

_"Reese, look out!"_

A swirling dark blue object travels at a high speed towards the dark haired boy across the field. He turns abruptly and leaps into the air, grabbing the discus right before it flies completely over his head. The small girl who's thrown the Frisbee walks over to him and pauses, biting her lip in anticipation.

"Sorry about that," she whispers softly, waiting quietly as he spins the disk around on his finger.

"It's no problem." He hands the toy down to her and scratches the back of his neck awkwardly.

They stand for a while, not quite sure what to say, if there really is anything to say. Their heads turn at the sound of an older woman's voice beside the entrance of the school.

"Well, sorry again," she says, about to turn around.

"Wait."

She stops and turns around and he begins to catch up with her. "You have a good throw," he mentions softly.

She blushes begins to bite her lip again. "Not really."

"Yeah, you do!" he exclaims, louder this time. His eyebrows raise and his walk becomes lighter. "I mean, that came from all the way across the field!"

"The wind probably took it." She dips her head down and looks towards the ground when the teacher lets out another wail. _Recess is over!_

The two children begin to walk side by side as their peers scurry around them, the excitement of their free period fading slowly from their energetic bodies.

"Hey," he turns and begins to walk backwards, looking at her. "Maybe you can be on my Frisbee team during gym," he suggests.

"Seriously?" she asks, looking up at him, the wind softly blowing her hair away from her face.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be serious?"

She looks away. "I'm only a fourth grader."

"Yeah, so?"  
>"None of your friends really talk to me either…"<p>

"Well they haven't seen you throw!" He turns back around so he's side-by-side with her.

She looks up again, barely being able to hide her smile. It's true, she does have a good throw. But she won't admit that. "Thanks."

"So?"

"So what?"

"You'll join?"

She considers this as they near the school. "Sure. Thanks Reese," she smiles softly and looks up at the boy next to her.

"No problem, Aubrey."

xx

I wake up with a start. We're still driving. It feels like I've only been out for a few minutes, in fact, I don't even remember going to sleep. I stifle a yawn and turn towards my driver who's still very much awake, his eyebrows formed into his ceaseless scowl.

"How long was I out?" I ask and his face twitches at the sound of my voice.

"Not too long."

I nod and look out the window. We're driving past more neighborhood-like areas. The grass along the sidewalk is overgrown and the broken down and abandoned cars and ever-present. I watch houses and cars and street signs fly by and then…

I double-take.

"Wait. Daryl. Stop the car," I order him, sitting up in my seat and staring out the review mirror.

"Wha', why?" he growls, not letting his foot off the gas.

"Just stop the car!" I yell, unlocking my side of the door.

"What tha' fuck, Aubrey!" he exclaims, before putting his foot on the brake and slowing down. Shane has to speed out of the way so he doesn't hit us, and the cars in front have stopped too. I jump out of the car and look behind us. It's further away now.

"What's goin' on?" Shane gets out of his Jeep and walks up to us, his hand firmly planted on his gun.

They look at me expectedly, and I begin to walk towards it, trying to remember if I've got this right. Two neighborhoods away, and that's the one. Druid Hills. I recognize the name almost immediately.

"Hey, why'd we stop?" Rick's jogging up to us.

"There," I point in the direction. "The neighborhood." I suddenly feel breathless and I start to sweat.

"You ain't makin' no fuckin' sense," Daryl growls.

Now, almost every one of the group has gathered. I look at Caroline and smile. "It's Mom and Dad," I say. Caroline seems to understand. "Their house, it's right over there!"

And without another word, I turn around and begin to sprint all the way back to the neighborhood, silently praying I don't awaken any dead, and that maybe, just maybe there's a chance they're still alive. I run to the entrance of the neighborhood and find that it's gated. My heart leaps. Maybe the dead can't get in. Maybe there's some sort of help in behind the gates. Maybe there's some sort of hope. I can find them and embrace them. Make up for all the lost years we had when I was a child.

So, I place one foot in a ring of the fence and pull myself up. I can hear the group congregate below me now, but I block them out and keep climbing until I reach the top. Until I lower myself down. Until I'm finally on the other side of the gate.

The gate to my impending Heaven.

A/N: So again, sorry for this sucky and short chapter. But don't give up on me yet! Hahaha I have big plans, I promise.

And I added her parents in there just to add a little something of my own not completely driven by the series, you know? So I hope that helps make up for the wait, and the next chapter will be worth it. Thanks again for reading! And special thanks to:

eloquent dreams

Leyshia Gisel

Nelle07

For being faithful reviewers! You guys rock!

:D


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